Hazed and confused?
Award-winning Independent Whisky
Bankfoot Farm, Inverkip, PA16 0DT
Hazed and confused?If you have a keen eye for detail, you’ll notice that our whisky labels state that our products are not chill-filtered. But what does this mean for you and your dram? Our Distiller, Lisa, is here to tell you.
‘If you like a drop of water or an ice cube or two in your whisky, you might have noticed a slight ‘haze’ in some whiskies when they are colder. You might even have worried this means there’s an issue with the spirit or the quality has been affected.
Firstly, let me assure you that this isn’t the case – to explain why, we need to delve into the science behind the whisky.
The whisky making process introduces various chemical compounds into the spirit at every stage: from the very start of distilling through to cask maturation. Mainly esters and fatty acids, these compounds are responsible for the vast range of flavours and aromas found in Scotch Whisky – here is a useful graphic illustrating various esters and their characteristics.
The notes of pear, melon, green apple, banana, or vanilla found in many whiskies are due to these chemical compounds, which can ‘clump’ together at low temperatures.
This ‘clumping’ is called flocculation or ‘floc’. Floc is most often found in whiskies reduced to lower than 48% ABV, but can be seen in higher strength expressions too, particularly in whiskies from sherry or wine casks rich in these flavourful compounds.
Far from being a quality issue, these compounds are vital when it comes to the flavour, mouthfeel and quality of your dram.
A procedure called ‘chill filtering’ can remove these compounds to get a product that can be reduced to as low as 40% ABV that won’t haze at low temperatures. This is useful where a product being produced in large volumes requires absolute consistency of appearance.
Our award-winning, limited-edition whiskies in both our Clydebuilt and Discovery ranges are never chill-filtered or coloured. We believe these important chemical compounds are essential to the taste of our whisky, and nothing needs to be removed or added except pure Scottish water. The quality and taste of the whiskies we bottle is, and always will be, our top priority, and this is reflected in the many prizes awarded to us by various judging panels of industry experts – just this month our Shipwright Blended Malt was awarded the top medal, the Master medal, at the 2022 Scotch Whisky Masters.
