How Ballantine’s Whiskey Is Made

There are a lot of whiskeys in the world, varying in their types and varieties. From single grains and single malts to double malts, every other kind of whiskey has a varied process. The unique aspect is that they all start with the same natural ingredients – malted barley, water and yeast. Ballantine’s whiskey is made by sourcing malt and grain from all corners of Scotland, bringing the best elements into our distilleries. The distilleries are where the magic happens.

These are the steps involved in preparing this fantastic whiskey:

•  Barley - Securing barley is the first step to the whiskey-making party. Firstly, you soak barley in water and encourage it to germinate and sprout. Things get even better when enzymes start to mix. That’s when starch in the grains convert into soluble sugars. This biological process is the first step towards whiskey formation.

• Milling - Once all the barley, sugars and enzymes dry, it’s time to grind it down nicely and thoroughly to form a fine grist. This will encourage the next step in the whiskey-making process, which is mashing.

• Mashing - This is a very important step in the whiskey-making process. In this process, hot water is added to the grist in the Mash Tun. A Mash Tun is a unique vessel which is structured to draw out the optimum level of sugary liquid which is known as wort. The wort is then transferred into the washback for fermentation, leaving behind spent grains converted to animal feed. This process leads to no wastage.

• Fermentation - We are all familiar with this process. This is the process where things get even more enjoyable. Firstly, yeast is added to Wash Back's wort to start the fermentation process and convert the sugars into alcohol. The method of Fermentation varies between distilleries, but it usually lasts around 48 – 56 hours. The result of fermentation is a liquid called wash which has an ABV of about 8%. Now is the time for the distillation process.

• Distillation - This is the process where things start to heat up. Every malt distillery in this world uses two types of still: the wash still and the spirit. They are made of copper to shape the flavour during a two-part distillation process.     

•  Maturation - Once bottled, the process of maturation stops altogether. For a whisky to be branded as “Scotch”, it has to age in oak casks for at least three years.

• Blending - Ballantine’s is then made by blending multiple single malts and grain whiskies. This process is quite tedious and time-consuming.

• Bottling - This is the final and also a very important process of whiskey-making. A great quality whiskey, like Ballantine’s, deserves an excellent quality bottle.

All the blenders have looked after the quality and prestige of the Ballantine’s brand. This brand is known to stay true to its original family character of the whiskeys. To learn more about Ballantine’s whiskey or Ballantine’s scotch’s price, don’t forget to visit https://www.ballantines.com/en-EN. This website has all the information about this whiskey, from Ballantine’s 30 years worth to Ballantine’s 21 years’ price.