Wide world of whisky offers more than ever before
Those who appreciate the water of life, as whisky is known, have a bewildering selection to choose from
Whisky is having a moment. Walk into a bar and you will likely be confronted by a bewildering array of choices. There's the Japanese whisky you've heard good things about, Scotch from five different regions - and what's the difference between rye and bourbon, anyway?
"I've been to bars with an amazing selection, but there's so many I don't know what to order," says Charlene Dawes, owner of Hollywood Road whisky den Angel's Share. It's enough to drive someone to drink. But put that glass of Chivas down - there's much more to whisky than the usual brands.
"One-third of our customers are beginners, but somehow they find their way here and talk to the bartender," says Aaron Chan, owner of Club Qing, a cosy Lan Kwai Fong bar that has 150 Japanese whiskies and an array of Scotch. "We always ask questions before we recommend anything."
There are plenty of options. Whisky is one of those rare spirits whose character depends not just on the skill of the distiller but on the alchemy of how and where it is aged. It all starts with a grain. Single malt whisky is made with malted barley, but other varieties use corn, rye, wheat or buckwheat. The grain is steeped in hot water to extract all of the starchy sugars, and the resulting sweet liquid, known as wort, is fermented, producing something similar to beer.
The next step is to distil the brew. Depending on the size and shape of the still, how it is heated and for how long, the same wort can be turned into a remarkably different spirit. At this point, whatever the method of distillation, the resulting product is a clear white liquid, often very high in alcohol. This is what is put into barrels for the final and most important step of the whisky-making process: ageing.
"The cask is an agent of transformation," says Tokyo-based whisky critic Stefan Van Eycken. "Most of the flavours come from the cask - some say as much as 80 per cent."
Oak is best for whisky casks, because it has just the right density to retain liquid while allowing it to breathe, and its chemical mix of tannins and vanillins produce appealing flavours. American and European oak are most commonly used, but some Japanese whiskies are aged in mizunara, a fragrant Japanese white oak used to make incense.
While bourbon must use new oak barrels by law, Scotch and other forms of whisky are often aged in second-hand casks that give them added layers of flavour, aroma and colour. Bourbon, sherry, port: traces of these previous tenants linger even after the cask has been refilled.