Coffey Still vs Pot Still: Aeneas Coffey 1830
— Coffey still vs pot still: 1830 patent, continuous column, 94% ABV. Grain whisky's engineering, and why blended Scotch exists.
Craft — whisky-making as engineering
Distillation chemistry, cask science, blending math, and fermentation engineering, explained without hand-waving.
Phenol PPM in Whisky: SWRI's Frances Jack on Malt vs Bottle
— Phenol ppm measures the malt, not the spirit. Frances Jack's SWRI HPLC method: Ardbeg 55 ppm malt lands at ~12 in the glass.
DMS in Whisky: Why Copper Kills It, and Who Kept the Meat
— DMS is whisky's meaty sulfur note. Copper turns it to odorless DMSO — unless worm tubs cut contact. Cowie kept it at Mortlach in 1897; Winchester on the modern trade.
Worm Tub Whisky List: 16 Scotch Distilleries
— Worm tub whisky list: 16 Scotch distilleries (Dalwhinnie, Mortlach, Talisker, Cragganmore) still use the coil. 20:1 copper gap explained.
Fettercairn Cooling Ring: The Only Water-Cooled Stills in Scotch
— Fettercairn is the only Scotch distillery to cool its spirit stills from outside — a copper collar dripping cold water since Alexander Menzies fitted the first in 1953.
Alligator Char (Char #4): Bourbon Cask Levels #1-#4 Explained
— Alligator Char (Char #4) is the deepest bourbon barrel char at 55 seconds of flame. Jimmy Russell and Chris Morris explain char #1-#4 and oak chemistry.
Mortlach 2.81 Distillation Explained: The Wee Witchie Still
— Mortlach's 2.81 is a weighted average of three asymmetric still lanes, with the Wee Witchie as a partial-reflux filter. Cowie, 1897.
Quercus garryana Oak Cask Explained: Westland Garryana Single Malt and Matt Hofmann's Pacific Northwest Wood Chemistry (vs Q. alba and Q. mongolica)
— Matt Hofmann started Westland in Seattle in 2010 and found a fourth whisky oak: Quercus garryana, a Pacific Northwest tree that lost 95% of its range. The chemistry, the 21% blend ratio, and the fallen-tree-only supply ceiling are all in the bottle.
Warehouse X and the Angels Share: Harlen Wheatley's Trials
— Buffalo Trace's Warehouse X isolates evaporation across four climate chambers. What Harlen Wheatley learned about the angels' share.
Wort Clarity Explained: Grist Ratio and Fruity vs Nutty New-Make
— Wort clarity in whisky: the 2:7:1 grist ratio (husk:grits:flour) makes a filter bed in the mash tun. Clear wort runs fruity, cloudy runs nutty new-make.
Glenlivet Distillery Expansion: How Alan Winchester Doubled Capacity to 10.5M Litres by Copying the Dents
— In 2010 The Glenlivet built six new stills and grew 75% to 10.5 million litres. Alan Winchester's engineering decision was to freeze every variable, even the ones nobody can explain, because still geometry sets the spirit and you cannot prove which curve matters.
Forsyths Coppersmiths Rothes: Why Whisky Pot Stills Wear Out, and How Richard Forsyth's Family Replaces Them
— A pot still is the one piece of the distillery you slowly drink away. The copper that strips sulphur from the spirit is consumed by the same reaction, and Richard Forsyth's family in Rothes has spent four generations hammering replacements. This is the chemistry, the lifespan, and the economics of a catalyst that erodes.
Whisky Spirit Cut: 75-60% ABV Heart, Explained at Glenturret
— The whisky spirit cut splits every run into heads, heart, and feints — only the 75-60% ABV heart reaches the cask. Here's how Glenturret still calls it by eye.
Glengoyne Slow Distillation: Why Robbie Hughes Runs at 4L/min
— Glengoyne runs its spirit still at ~4 litres/min. Manager Robbie Hughes calls it nursing the vapour: slow reflux + copper contact → sulphur-free, ester-led new make. The trade-off is throughput.
Clynelish 14 Waxy: Uncleaned Feints Receiver
— Clynelish 14 is waxy because the feints receiver is never cleaned. Fatty acids build up in the tank; Jim Beveridge built Johnnie Walker Gold on that residue.
Loch Lomond Straight-Neck Stills: Michael Henry's Rectifying Cap Method for Multi-Spirit Output
— Loch Lomond's straight-neck rectifying stills let you choose where to draw the spirit. Master blender Michael Henry, a distilling scientist, runs them like a control problem.
Kilchoman Farm Distillery: How Anthony Wills Built Islay's First New Distillery in 97 Years (Barley-to-Bottle)
— Anthony Wills built Kilchoman in 2005 — Islay's first new distillery since 1908 and its only farm-to-bottle one, running two phenol specs through one stillhouse. Barley-to-glass as engineering.
Octomore vs Port Charlotte: 300 vs 40 ppm Peat
— Octomore (300 ppm) and Port Charlotte (40 ppm) share Bruichladdich's tall pot stills. Adam Hannett sets peat on the malt.
Glenmorangie Fermentation: Brendan McCarron's Long-Ferment and Allta Wild-Yeast Approach to Honey-Citrus
— Glenmorangie's honey-citrus profile is half made in the fermentation tank, not the 5.14m still. Brendan McCarron watches it — long fermentation, ester chemistry, and Allta wild yeast.
Macallan Oak Species Explained: Q. alba vs Q. petraea vs Q. mongolica (Stuart MacPherson's Three-Wood Method)
— Stuart MacPherson spent a decade as Macallan's Master of Wood choosing which forest each cask came from — the lactone math behind three oak species and why Mizunara needs fifteen years.
Whisky Purifier Pipe Explained: How Glen Grant's 1872 Bolt-On Reflux Stayed (Dennis Malcolm's 63 Years)
— Glen Grant has run a water-cooled purifier on every still since 1872. Major James Grant retrofitted rather than rebuilt; Dennis Malcolm spent 63 years deciding not to remove it.
Rachel Barrie: Master Blender Behind BenRiach & GlenDronach
— Rachel Barrie has been master blender for BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh since 2017 — how her sherry-cask matrix works.
STR Cask Explained: Jim Swan's Shaved-Toasted-Recharred Method
— STR means shaved, toasted, re-charred: 3-5 mm shaved off a used wine barrel, toasted at 180-220C, re-charred at 700C. Jim Swan ran it at Penderyn from 2004.
Glenmorangie Still Height (5.14m): How Reflux Shapes the Spirit
— Glenmorangie's 5.14m wash stills are Scotland's tallest, a geometry fixed by second-hand gin stills bought in 1843. High reflux is why the spirit is light.