Leading Single Malts - Glenfiddich & Glenlivet

Whilst the leading multinational spirits companies market famous and well-established single malt brands worldwide, the family owned independent company William Grant & Sons produces the world's top selling single malt whisky brand, Glendfiddich. Some 775,000 (9L) cases are sold per year. The company claims that one of every 5 bottles of single malt in the world is a bottle of Glenfiddich. In addition its other brand Balvenie is also a popular single malt and is among the top 12 best sellers. The Glenfiddich 50 Years Old sells for US$ 1,800 a bottle. The other independent company, Edrington Group has three single malt brands, namely the Macallan, Highland Park and Glenrothes. The Macallan is among the top 12 best selling single malt brands. In the malt whisky sector it has the Glenlivet, which is second in the world only to Glenfiddich. The owner, Chivas Brothers aims to build Glenlivet from its current sales of just under 440,000 (9L) cases a year to become the number 1 global single malt whisky brand by sales volume, thereby overtaking Glenfiddich. The Glenfiddich and Glenlivet account for 53% of sales by volume of single malts in 2000 - amazing success.

Mig a nagy multi szeszipari vallalatok hires single malt whiskyket ertekesitenek vilagszerte, a csaladi tulajdonban levo, fuggetlen William Grant & Sons kesziti a vilag elso single malt whiskyt, a Glenfiddich-et, amibol 775ezer kartonnyit (9 literes kartonban szamolva) adnak el evente. A vallalat szerint minden 5. ertekesitett single malt whisky Glenfiddich. Emellett masik markaja, a Balvenie ugyancsak nepszeru es ott van a vilag top 12 malata whiskyje kozott. Egy uveg 50 eves Glenfiddich ara peldaul 1,800 dollar (kb. 350,000 Ft!). A masik nagy fuggetlen vallalat, az Edrington Group tulajdonaban harom single malt whisky talalhato, a Macallan, a Highland Park es a Glenrothes, amibol a Macallan ugyancsak ott van a top12-ben. A Glenfiddich utan a masodik legnagyobb single malt whisky marka a Glenlivet. A tulajdonos Chivas Brothers hatarozott szandeka, hogya mostani kb. 440ezer kartonos mennyisegrol no.1. pozicioba hozza a Glenlivet-et, megelozve ezzel a mostani elso Glenfiddich-et. E ketto egyebkent, 2000-ben, a vilag single malt whisky eladasainak 53%-at adtak - lenyugozo piaci reszesedes.

Uishgi

By the way, the name whisky is an English corruption of the ancient name for spirits "water of life" according to Edinburgh University. It comes from the Scottish and Irish Gaelic "uisge beatha" or "usquebaugh" which to English ears sounded like "uishgi" and henceforth became whisky.

Nos, ha valaki nem tudna: a whisky - az edinburgh-i egyetem szerint - az alkohol egy osregi, az "elet vize", elnevezesenek angol eltorzulasa. A skot es ir kelta/gaelic nyelv "uisge beatha" vagy "usquebaugh" elnevezesbol ered, amely angol fulnek inkabb ugy hangzott "uishgi" es lett ezaltal whisky.

Top Single Malts

The production of malt whisky is dominated by the Scottish distilleries. According to the Scotch Whisky Association there are 96 distilleries in Scotland producing malt whiskies. Outside Scotland there are 3 distilleries in Japan, 3 in Ireland, 1 in Nova Scotia in Canada and 1 in India. It is possible there may be one or two more yet to discover outside Scotland but certainly it is fair to say that the total number of malt distilleries is a little over 100. Four very large multinational players lead malt whisky production in terms of turnover: Diageo (eg. Cardhu, Oban, Talisker), Allied Domecq (eg. Laphroaig, Scapa, Glendronach), Pernod Ricard (eg. Glenlivet) and the Suntory of Japan. The big four is followed by William Grant & Sons Distillers Ltd. producing the world leading Glenfiddich single malt. Other big players are Glenmorangie (eg. Ardbeg), Edrington Group (eg. Macallan, Highland Park) and Whyte & Mackay.

A single malt whisky gyartast a skot leparlo uzemek vezetik. A Skot Whisky Szovetseg adatai szerint 96 leparlo uzem mukodik ma Skociaban. Tovabbi 3 uzem Japanban, 3 Irorszagban, 1 Uj-Skociaban (Kanada) es egy Indiaban keszit single malt whiskyket. Termeszetesen lehetseges, hogy megbujik a vilagban meg 1-2 kisebb uzem Skocian kivul, de nyugodtan mondhatjuk, hogy a single malt leparlok szama ma 100 korul van a vilagon. Forgalom szerint a termelesben 4 nagy vilagceg az elso: Diageo (pl. Cardhu, Oban, Talisker), Allied Domecq (pl. Laphroaig, Scapa, Glendronach), Pernod-Ricard (pl. Glenlivet) es a japan Suntory vallalat. Oket koveti a William Grant & Sons Distillers Ltd., amely a vilag vezeto malt whiskyjet, a Glenfiddichet gyartja. Tovabbi nagy termelok a Glenmorangie (pl. Ardbeg is az ovek), Edrington Group (pl. Macallan, Highland Park) es a Whyte & Mackay.

Maker's Mark whisky

Plans are nearly complete to add a third and final distilling unit to the Maker's Mark bourbon's Loretto, Kentucky, distillery, which will increase its yearly capacity by about 500,000 cases. Dave Pickerell, master distiller for the red-waxed bourbon estimates that the third distilling unit will max out the underground springs that supply the limestone water for the bourbon's distinctive recipe. Maker's Mark President, Bill Samuels said that "this will be the end of it, and even to make this work, we have to add about 7 or 8 feet to the dam so we can capture all the spring water during the wet season." With two years of construction ahead and six years of barrel aging for the first product, it will be at least eight years before the first bourbon from the new still will reach the market. Current capacity is 1.4 million cases and current U.S. consumption is about 600,000 cases. But with sales volume increasing 13 percent a year, a potential limit is in sight in a decade or so because of the springs' limitations.

Mar majdnem elkeszult a Maker's Mark bourbon whisky (Loretto, Kentucky) 3. es egyben utolso leparlo egysege, amely mintegy 500,000 kartonnal (9L-es karon) megnoveli az uzem kapacitasat. Dave Pickerell, whisky mester becslese szerint e 3. leparlo egyseg teljesen kihasznalja a whisky keszitesehez hasznalt egyedi forrasviz-keszleteket. Bill Samuels, a Maker's Mark elnoke azt nyilatkozta, hogy "ez a bovites vege, es meg ennek mukodtetesehez is kb. 25 meternyit melyiteni kell a kuton, hogy fel tudjuk fogni a teljes vizkeszletet az esos idoszakokban". A ket eves epitkezesi es 6 eves erlelesi idoszak azt jelenti, hogy az uj leparlobol kikerulo elso whisky is csak nyolc ev mulva kerulhet piacra. A jelenlegi kapacitas 1,4 millio karton, amibol az USA fogyasztas kb. 600ezer. A 13%-os eves novekedes alapjan az uzem mar ebben az evtizedben elerheti maximalis termelesi kepesseget a korlatozottan rendelkezesre allo forrasviz miatt. Ha eleri a limitet, borzasztoan meg fog dragulni. Jo lesz addigra bekeszletezni.

Laphroaig Quarter Cask

February marks the official launch of the world's first and only quarter cask matured single malt whisky, for Laphroaig. It was developed in secrecy by Allied Distillers' Master Blender, Robert Hicks, at the home of Laphroaig. Quarter cask variant takes its inspiration from the small casks, often used for Scotch whisky in the 19th century for easier transport on a back of a mule or horse. Laphroaig Quarter Cask is a double cask matured single malt whisky starting its life in standard barrel size American Oak and transferred into the newly created quarter casks for a final period of maturation. The quarter cask maturation allows up to 30% more of the spirit to be in contact with the wood, the process whereby all malts take much of their individual character and style.

Februarban kerult hivatalosan piacra a vilag elso es egyetlen 'quarter cask'-ban erlelt single malt whiskyje a Laphroaig-tol. Teljes titoktartas mellett keszitette az ADL Master Blendere, Robert Hicks, a Laphroaig leparlouzemben. Hasonlo 'quarter cask' hordokat hasznaltak a skotok mar a XIX. szazadban a konnyebb szallithatosag kedveert. A Laphroaig Quarter Cask egy dupla-erlelesu single malt whisky, amit eloszor normal meretu amerikai tolgyfa hordokban erlelnek es csak az erleles utolso idoszakara toltenek at a 'quarter cask' hordokba. A 'quarter cask' eljaras soran 30%-kal tobb whisky erintkezik a hordofalaval, ami ugye meghatarozza a single malt whiskyk egyedi karakteret es stilusat.

Some useful whisky-websites

A useful collection of whisky websites from around the world: whisky-making, regions, tastings, and so on.

Itt van nehany skot whisky website is, ahol talaltok nagyon sok hasznos infot a whisky keszitesrol, regiokrol, tastingrol, stb.

http://www.scotchwhisky.com/
http://www.whisky-distilleries.info/
http://www.whiskymag.com
http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/
http://www.scotchwhisky.net/
http://www.maltwhiskey.com/default2.htm
http://www.whiskyportal.com/
http://www.whiskyweb.com/
http://www.whiskymania.de/
http://whiskey.lap.hu/
(the last one is only in Hungarian)

Jack Daniel's Master Distiller in Hungary

Jimmy Bedford, Jack Daniel's Master Distiller, spent the past two days in Hungary holding several tasting sessions about the world of Jack Daniel's. We've put together a very busy program with tastings to press, bartenders, VIPs and interviews to TV channels, radio, web, press, and so on. He's a great guy: hard worker, no complains. Typical American, a pro, perfectly fits to Jack. I've spent a lot of time with him, and learnt much about the "Tenessee/Lynchburg way" of whiskey making. I envy his job a bit, however I wouldn't be able to travel so much and deal with the same questions every hour. It's also better to drink various whiskeys rather than stick to only 'the one' as he do.

Jimmy Bedford, a Jack Daniel's Whiskey Mestere, az elmult ket napon szamos whiskey kostoltatot tartott Budapesten. Elegge suru programot sikerult szerveznunk neki: bemutatokkal a sajtonak, barmixereknek, 'fontos embereknek', illetve TV, radio, sajto es web interjukkal. Jimmy nagyszeru ficko. Kemenyen dolgozott, jol lefarasztottuk, de nem panaszkodott. Amugy tipikus amerikai, egy profi, aki tokeletesen illik a Jack Daniel's-hez. Szinte vegig kisertem a ket napon, igy rengeteget tanultam a whiskey keszitesrol, ahogy Tenesseeben/Lynchburgben csinaljak. Egy kicsit irigylem az "alomallasat", bar nem lennek kepes ennyit utazni es minden oraban megvalaszolni ugyanazokat a kerdeseket. Amugyis szerintem sokkal jobb tobb fajta whiskey kozott valogatni, mint folyton ugyanahhoz az egy markahoz ragaszkodni (ahogy o teszi).