Whisky/Whiskey

Whisky, or is it Whiskey?  I can never remember the difference.  And reading Wikipedia only makes it more confusing:

The spelling whisky (plural: whiskies) is generally used in Canada, Japan, Scotland, and Wales, while whiskey (plural: whiskeys) is more common in Ireland and the United States. However, the usage is not always consistent – for example, some prominent American brands, such as George Dickel, Maker's Mark, and Old Forester (which are all made by different companies), use the 'whisky' spelling on their labels, and the U.S. legal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits document also uses the 'whisky' spelling. American brands using the Scottish version of the spelling of “whisky” tend to have been founded by individuals with Scottish ancestry or to have a flavour, style or marketing strategy that is evocative of Scotch whisky.

From here on I will use Whisky, it will save me one keystroke.

Whisky is made by first of all fermenting a grain (barley, rye, malted or un-malted) which is very similar to another process, beer.  This alcoholic liquid (beer?) is then distilled a couple of times to get it up to cask strength, 63-72% alcohol.  This is then stored in casks for a period of time prior to bottling.  Simple hey.

So I know little about this art and thought I should get someone into the studio who knew a lot more about it than me.  Enter Bill Lark.

He has been making distilled spirits in Tasmania at Lark Distillery for quite a while.  In fact he was the first distillery in Tasmania for 150 years, and had to battle federal laws to get it up and running.  Fascinating story, I had a great time, thanks Bill.

Here is the audio:

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