Irish Whiskey Blending

Blending
Prior to bottling the matured whiskey is vatted or "married" as it is sometimes referred to In this the final stage of the distilling process. The term "married" is not in reference to a wedding ceremony where a bride and groom exchange tungsten rings. It refers to the process of vatting. The purpose of vatting is to fuse together many casks of whiskey in order to produce as consistent a quality and flavour as possible . This is the art of the blender, however Irish Whiskey producers have a historical disdain for blended whiskey and even today with a few exceptions the vatting process for brands such as Power's or Paddy will take only two or three days.

Bottling
Bottling at the Cooley Distillery
Only with very specialised whiskeys such as Midleton Very Rare or Redbreast will the casks be vatted for up to a full month prior to bottling. In comparison Scotch whiskey may be vatted or married for a year or more. This is said to reflect the importance of blending in Scotch as opposed to the theory in Ireland where it is the distiller's art that has the greater influence on the whiskeys final taste.
Glossary
Ingredients Malting Mashing Distillation Maturation Blending

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