Have you ever wondered what whisky is made from, or pondered what ingredients come together to create the perfect dram? Along with a great deal of attention to detail, time and passion, there are three essential ingredients that make whisky what it is.

The flavour of whisky is like nothing else, and every bottle in The Glenlivet collection is different. So what are these mysterious ingredients that amalgamate to create whisky? And how do these components alter how scotch tastes? 

As whisky makers since 1822, there’s no one better to give you an introduction on what whisky is made from…

Whisky is a distilled and barrel-aged spirit made from a fermented grain mash. This mash and the subsequent whisky are crafted from just three primary ingredients: water, yeast and cereal grains. Whisky can be made from many different grains including barley, corn/maize, rye, or wheat. Each grain has its own unique flavour profile and some whiskies, such as bourbon and scotch, have specific requirements about what grain is used to make them. It’s then aged in wooden casks to get its rich, smooth flavour.

Many people ponder the difference between whisky and scotch and how they are made but the main distinction is that scotch is whisky that’s produced in Scotland. The natural raw ingredients of grains, water and yeast are still the same. That being said, scotch is made from a particular grain, malted barley, and this is what gives it its unique characteristics and smooth woody flavour. Moreover, many scotches utilise fresh spring water from a local source to help further capture the essence of the Scottish region it is produced in. 

So, water, yeast and cereal grains – the simplicity of these whisky ingredients may surprise you. But its additional whisky making components such as individual processes, breadth of experience and little touches by each distillery that make all the difference to the final bottle. 

For example, during the whisky distillation process, pot stills are used – and their shape makes a big difference to the final product. At The Glenlivet, we still use the original lantern-shaped design engineered by our founder, George Smith. This gives our scotch an irresistibly sweet, fruity taste. Read more about how our scotch whisky is made.

The details in the three key ingredients of our scotch make all the difference, too.

A water source is absolutely paramount to a distillery. George Smith himself said “Knowing very well that every flourishing distillery is only as reliable as its water source.” Without water, there’s no whisky – it really is that simple.

That’s why you’ll find that distilleries in Scotland’s world famous whisky regions tend to be located near springs. 

The Glenlivet Distillery is a stone’s throw from Josie’s Well, a natural spring providing us with crystal clear water from the River Livet. This water is mineral rich and (conveniently) the ideal temperature straight from the spring. 

Ultimately, the quality of the water a distillery uses will have a direct impact on the quality and character of its whisky. Water from near the coast can give whisky a seaweedy, briney edge, for example.

In whisky production, grain germination is a key step. Water is needed to steep the grains so that they can absorb moisture before being spread out on a tray to germinate. Water is also critical to the mashing process. The germinated, dried and milled grains are combined with hot water and cooked in a mash tun to convert the starch in the grains into sugar. 

Yeast is added during the fermentation stage of whisky making. Its role is to feed on the sugar created from the malted barley during mashing, and turn it into alcohol – making it a very important role indeed.

The yeast also creates tiny compounds called congeners which add to the flavour of the finished scotch.

We’ll be focusing on malted barley here, as it’s our grain of choice, and is traditionally what all scotch was made from. 

Barley is actually the main cereal crop in Scotland, and The Moray coast has an ideal unique climate for growing barley. At The Glenlivet, we get our barley from Portgordon Maltings, a passionate Scottish company with over 150 years of history.

You’ve probably heard the term “single malt”. Indeed, every bottle in our collection is a single malt whisky. This means that the whisky is made from a blend of scotch, but that these are all from just one distillery and made with only one cereal grain: malted barley.

Other popular cereal grains used to make whisky are corn or maize, wheat, and rye, and this leads us nicely to what different types of whiskies are made from.

How whisky is made is well-known as are its humble ingredients, but its beginnings are shrouded in a little more mystery. Whisky is believed to have originated in Scotland and Ireland after distillation methods spread from mainland Europe, and whisky has been produced by the Scots and Irish for hundreds of years, with the first recorded instance of whisky appearing in the 1400s. 

The timeline isn’t perfect, but we know that the distillation process was used thousands of years ago in ancient Mesopotamia to create perfumes and in ancient Greece to produce potable water from seawater.

When monks arrived in the UK, they fermented mashed grain and barley in their monasteries because they didn’t have access to grapes and vineyards like they did in mainland Europe for making wine. Some think that Scottish and Irish producers learnt from these monks, while others think that farmers discovered how to make spirit from their surplus barley all by themselves.

While whisky can be made everywhere and anywhere in the world, there are certain whisky hotspots such as Scotland, Ireland, America, Canada and Japan, and different regions prefer different whisky ingredients.

We’ve talked a little about different types of whisky by ingredients in The Glenlivet Guide to The Different Types of Whisky, but to give you a quick overview…

• American Bourbon whiskey has to be made from at least 51% corn grain
• Rye whisky (popular in America and Canada), must be made from a minimum of 51% rye grain
• Corn whisky (prevalent in America and Mexico), must be at least 80% corn
• Single malt scotch, like The Glenlivet, must be 100% malted barley
• Irish single pot still must be at least 30% malted, 30% unmalted barley and up to 5% other grains

The Irish prefer barley, both malted and fresh, for their whiskey, as do the Japanese. In fact, whisky made in Japan is closely related to scotch, due to scotch-making knowledge from Scotland’s whisky regions being taken to Japan one hundred years ago.

Wherever you go in the world however, whisky is always made from the three cornerstones of water, yeast and cereal grains.

But there is still plenty of creativity to be had with whisky. 

Why not experiment with your own whisky ingredients and try an infusion at home? Some of our favourite flavours to add to scotch are ginger, cinnamon, orange and even chilli.

Whisky cocktails are another excellent way to discover what flavours you enjoy to pair with scotch, and we have plenty of recipes to try.

Now you know what whisky is made from, check out our whisky guides to learn even more about the wonderful world of whisky.