Hi! I’m Kristine, and I’ve distilled Scotch whiskey in Scotland and Welsh whiskey in Wales. In this post I’m answering 8 of the most frequently googled questions about whiskey.
1. What does whiskey taste like?
Whiskey can be spicy if it is made with rye, or it can be tar-like, leathery, or smoky if it is made with peated barley. Whiskey can be sweet and smooth if it is made with corn, or it can have notes of vanilla. It can be grassy, nutty, yeasty, husky, sweaty, fruity… I think you get the picture. A whole host of flavours can be used to describe whiskies, which is why there are so many whiskey connoisseurs out there.
2. Does whiskey go bad?
An unopened bottle of whiskey will theoretically last forever as long as it is kept in ideal conditions. However, once opened, oxygen will start to get into the bottle and the alcohol will start to evaporate out. This will make the whiskey less harsh, easier to drink, and smoother on the palate.
While whiskey will never go bad, by which I mean go moldy and make you sick when you drink it, it will oxidise over time and lose the properties which make it unique. The colour, flavour, and fragrance will fade over time, so you should aim to finish a bottle of whiskey within two years of opening it.
However, some experts say that you can store a bottle of whiskey for up to five years in ideal conditions. This means that the bottle of whiskey is kept below room temperature, in an upright position, and away from sunlight. In addition, the amount of oxygen entering the bottle can be minimized by transferring the whiskey from bigger bottles to smaller bottles as you drink it. This limits the amount of space in the whiskey bottle.
3. Does whiskey contain sugar?
Nope. Whiskey does not contain sugar.
4. Does whiskey have gluten?
Nope. No spirits contain gluten.
Although the base material for whiskey includes grains such as wheat, rye, and barley, the distillation process that the spirit undergoes removes all traces of gluten from it. Wine is also gluten-free, while beer, which uses grains as a base material, does have gluten in it.
5. Does whiskey contain carbohydrates?
Nope. Whiskey is carb-free.
6. What does whiskey tango foxtrot mean?
I had to google the answer to this myself. The words are based on the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, which is the most commonly used radiotelephone communication alphabet. Whiskey, tango, foxtrot are codenames that have been acrophonically assigned to different letters in the English alphabet. This is to allow letters and numbers to have distinct names which can be easily understood through voice communication through the radio or telephone regardless of language barriers or the quality of the communication channel.
If we look at these three code words, whiskey stands for “W”, tango stands for “T”, and foxtrot stands for “F”. If you are familiar with urban slang then you will know that “WTF” stands for what the fuck! So whiskey, tango, foxtrot is just a bit of clever military slang for “What the fuck!”.
7. What does whiskey neat mean?
Whiskey neat is when whiskey is served un-chilled, or without ice, and has no water or mixers added to it. It is simply whiskey in a glass. On the opposite end, whiskey on the rocks refers to whiskey that is served on ice.
8. Does whiskey freeze?
The freezing point of pure alcohol is -114°C. Whiskey will normally freeze between -25°C to -36°C. You might be wondering why the freezing point of whiskey is given as a temperature range instead of a single temperature. This is because whiskey is sold at different alcoholic strengths. A whiskey with higher alcoholic strength will have a lower freezing point, whereas a whiskey with lower alcoholic strength will have a higher freezing point, closer to water.
The freezer that you have at home probably will not reach the temperature needed to freeze whiskey. Also, it is generally recommended that you do not put your whiskey in the freezer before drinking it as the cold temperatures will dull the subtle aromas and tastes of your drink.
Did I answer all of your burning questions about whiskey today? Let me know in the comments below.
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