Blue Diamond Whiskey (Malt Whiskey, not Single Malt Whiskey)

[PalCabral]

Hiya Distillers.

One of the projects I had to postpone last year was to make a Whiskey that bridges the Scottish/Irish style of Whiskies and American style Whiskies. I had a vision of a Whiskey made from roughly 35-45% corn and 55-65% Barley malt. Little did I know that there actually is a style defined for this type of Whiskey in the US already, simply called Malt Whiskey. No, it's not the new guy on the block, the Single Malt Whiskey, I am talking about. American Malt Whiskey has been an approved definition for quite a while but is not very common commercially.

TTB: MALT WHISKY³
Whisky produced at not exceeding 80% alcohol by volume (160 proof) from a fermented mash of not less than 51 percent malted barley and stored at not more than 62.5% alcohol by volume (125 proof) in charred new oak containers.

I've been tinkering with the recipe for quite a while, off and on. I like Scottish Single Malt overall, Springbank, Ardbeg, Arran, Highland Park, Talisker, and a few others are lovely. But then there are so many of the Scotch brands that are just woody, uninspiring, and feel old. I have narrowed it down to oak maturation. It's like the barrels they are using are as old as Scotland. At the same time, the few American Single Malts I have tried, especially Westland, are superb. Why? They mix their malts more and most importantly, they use new American white oak, even though they don't have to according the TTB definition.

What I want to make is a "lighter" malt Whiskey that takes on and is defined by the new toasted and charred American white oak, supported by an interesting mix malts. Yes, I am a converted brewer, and as such, I am tinkering (too much) with mixes of grains/malts. However, I'm not so concerned about the flavors from individual malts but how the combination of them taste. It's about building flavors, not individually picking them out. This is what I landed at:

Blue Diamond Whiskey:
59% Barley malt - see below
36% Corn - to lighten the Whiskey a little and add extract/fermentability
5% Rye malt - small dose to add that spice

The Barley malt is a mix of several malts. I wanted character, malty with a tad of raisins, caramel, coffee and chocolate:

36% Chevalier - British heritage pale malt
9% Red X Munich style malt
5% Brown malt - dark roasted malt
5% Extra Special malt (Briess) - roasted caramel malt
4% Maris Otter malt - pale malt

Mash-schedule:
40C Mash in
43C Beta-Glucan rest 15 minutes
50C Protein rest 15 minutes
63C Saccharification rest 1 - 90 minutes
67C Saccharification rest 2 - 90 minutes
70C Saccharification rest 3 - 30 minutes
Drain and sparge
Allow to cool to 58C.
58C Gluco rest - 60 minutes
Force cool to 34C - add yeast

Mashing additives:
Endozym Brewmix Plus
Epsom Salt
CaCO3
Glucoamlylase

Fermentation:
DistilaMax MW (M-1 yeast)
Boiled yeast (don't have backset for this Whiskey yet)
Epsom salt
Wyeast Beer Nutrients
Mussels' Shells