A Vatted Grain Whisky?

[whiskeyme]

I understand that a Blended Scotch has some SM whiskies from different distilleries blended with grain alcohols. However, I have never heard of Vatted Grain Whiskya like Hedonism from Compass Box. The label says Scotch Whisky on it Doesn't it have to have malted barley to be a Scotch Whisky?

What are the grains invlolved in a Vatted Grain Whisky? Surely, it does not have any malted barley (I'd assume that would make it a blend). Does it have unmalted barley? Does this mean that all the whiskies invoolved where made in continous stills and not copper pot stills? Any help would be great.

[whiskeyme]

[Ryguy]

I wish that I could help you here, but I'm not extremely familiar with the Compass Box vatting process. I did go to their website and this is what it said:

Our bottlings of Hedonism are made from a combination of eight to 15 casks of grain whisky from distilleries such as Cameron Bridge, one of the oldest continuously operating distilleries in Scotland, and Cambus. Most whisky in Hedonism is over 20 years-old and has all been aged in first-fill American Oak casks. The ageing yields a very special whisky that is full and round with richly textured flavours of vanilla and toffee.


I have tried this before and I found it very interesting stuff.

[whiskeyme]

Yes, I found that at their site as well, good info. I'd really like to give Hedonism a go. I guess my questions really pertain to grain whisk(e)y in general. My understanding is that grain whiskies are made from any grain (e.g. wheat, barley, corn, rye, etc.) that is NOT malted. Also, a grain whisk(e)y is distilled in a continous cloumn still and not a copper pot still. I was hoping to confirm that.

[DavidH]

To quote from the Scotch Whisky Order 1990, Scotch whisky is whisky...

... which has been produced at a distillery in Scotland from water and malted barley (to which only whole grains of other cereals may be added)

I believe in the case of grain whisky that only a small proportion of malted barley is used, and that is to provide the enzyme that converts the starch in the rest of the grain to fermentable sugar.

I think in Cooley's continuous still that maize is the grain used but that's not a requirement. Whatever is cheap, I presume.

[Eric m]

Perhaps its a single grain whisky as they have in Germany?
Eric.

[Deactivated Member]

Grain whisky is indeed made in column stills from any grain, usually whatever is cheapest. It could as easily as not be barley, if that happens to be what is available--I believe it has been a good many years since barley was the cheapest grain available in the UK, but I have heard of such--and I see no reason why it shouldn't be malted. "Vatted grain" is a category that would appear to be nothing more than theoretical if not for Hedonism; I know of no other. It is simply, as the name says, a vatting of more than one grain whisky. My impression, contrary to what has been stated above, is that it is certainly scotch whisky; it's whisky (by definition made from grain, not necessarily barley) made in Scotland. Logic tells me that it can't be scotch whisky unless all its constituent parts are scotch whisky; if blends containing grain whiskies are scotch whisky, then grain whisky is scotch whisky. ("Single malt" must be made only from malted barley.) Of course, logic does not always come into play in such matters, and if I am demonstrated to be wrong, it will be neither the first time, nor particularly shocking.