Food and Drink at Old Course Hotel

Scotch Whisky: Uisge beatha: Water of Life = a distilled beer (no hops) Yes whisky is a distilled beer, the same as Cognac is a distilled wine and the same as Calvados is a distilled Cider. This is how it works: we need sugar, (cereal, fruits etc) we need yeast, (natural, distillers or brewers) we need water (let’s face it in Scotland we have plenty of it). Those three ingredients will allow for alcohol to the produced through a fermentation process. It is the result from the fermentation (beer, wine, cider) which is distilled through a pot still (batch or continuous) which will strip off the alcohol vapours from water vapours. The result we call spirit, with a much higher alcohol % that fermentation would ever reach. Distill wine = brandy (generic term: Brandewijn = Burnt wine) (Cognac, Armagnac’s are types of Brandy) Distill cider = brandy called Calvados or Apple Jack Distill beer = Whisk(e)y worldwide, Scotch (whisky) in Scotland, Japanese (whisky ) in Japan, French (whisky) in France, now you have the idea! Phew!

Time for me to go home now and partake in quality control of one or two drams! PS: as we speak Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, and Bowmore on Islay have had to stop distilling: The reason “SHORTAGE OF WATER”! Brilliant!

Slainte Mhath or Santé as we say in Glasgow.

Regis