These monks had discovered that when a mash of barley and water was fermented with yeast and then heated in an alembic, then alcohol in it could be separated and retained. That term eventually became whisky in English. Today Irish whisky is made from a fermented mash of malted and unmalted barley, corn, rye and lesser amounts of other cereal grains. Part of the barley used is malted, but unlike the Scots who dry their malt over an open peat fire to give it a smoky flavor, the Irish dry their malt in closed kilns, which eliminates the peaty, smoky flavor that characterized most Scotch. All Irish whiskeys are triple distilled in copper pot stills and are aged three to nine years in reused sherry, brandy, bourbon or rum oak casks.
Irish whiskies are full-bodied and possess a smooth malty flavor.
Scotch Whiskey S cotland is undoubtedly one of the world's classic whisky production regions. It is blessed with a combination of natural resources and climate that has proven ideal for the production of this spirit . The earliest official reference to whisky-making in Scotland appears in the late 15th century, although Highlanders had ben operating stills for several hundred years by then. Throughout all these years, Scotch whisky was distilled using the pot-type still, resulting in whisky in small batches. Making Scotland's malt whisky is an expensive, labor intensive process that involves several general steps.