生產(chǎn)麥芽威士忌的原材料是大麥、水和酵母,它的制作過程可分為以下五個步驟：

    發(fā)芽(Malting)

    大麥經(jīng)過浸泡、發(fā)芽、烘干后，淀粉逐漸轉(zhuǎn)換成糖份。整個過程會受以下因素的制約：大麥中可發(fā)酵物質(zhì)（麥精）的多少、淀粉酶的活性、麥芽的流失率。

    磨碎(Mashing)

    將發(fā)芽后的大麥進行加工磨碎，使其更易溶解，同時也會釋出一種甜味的液體，稱之為麥芽汁。

    在磨碎過程中所需的材料是水和經(jīng)過發(fā)芽的大麥。水質(zhì)在這整個過程中都起著非常重要的作用，當然也決定了最后生產(chǎn)出的酒。

    發(fā)酵（Fermentation）

    酵母是一種單細胞的微生物，這也就是說，它是一種個體只能通過顯微鏡才能觀察出來的活的生物。它是植物王國里的一員, 真菌的一種。酵母有許多不同的種類，但是在蒸餾和釀造業(yè)中最常見的則是一種叫做Saccharomyces Cerevisiae的釀酒酵母。給這種極小的微生物一個形象的概念吧！把3個成熟的酵母細胞首尾相連，它的長度是1英寸的千分之一，而1磅的酵母中最多有70億個細胞。

    蒸餾（Distillation）

    蒸餾是在幾對帶有鵝頸彎頭的銅壺里進行的。通常一個比另一個大，但是在不同的酒廠，它們的形狀、高度和尺寸都是不同的。蒸餾器的壽命取決于它的使用情況，通常是在15到30年左右。

    兩個主要的蒸餾操作是將液體轉(zhuǎn)化蒸汽，再將蒸汽轉(zhuǎn)化成液體，即蒸發(fā)和冷凝。蒸餾其實就是通過這些操作來起到分離的作用。液體可以從固體中分離出來，或者從一種液體到另一種液體。蒸餾物和殘渣總有一樣會被留下來。

    醇化（Maturation）

    如果說到這里就結(jié)束了，那么就不用談什么威士忌的生產(chǎn)了，這是因為這種酒只有在橡木桶里保存至少三年以上，才能被合法地稱作是蘇格蘭威士忌。

    如果麥芽酒要作為單一麥芽威士忌銷售，那么它至少要經(jīng)過8年，最好10到12年的醇化。

    The raw materials required for the production of Malt Whisky are barley, water and yeast. The production process can be broken down into five stages. 

    MALTING

    First the barley is MALTED, that is the barley is germinated to convert the starches in each grain into a simple sugar. Distillers look for plump, ripe barley with plenty of starch and not too much nitrogen.

    The object of malting is, therefore, to develop Enzymes and in particular Diastase of Malt and to modify or make friable the starch contained in the grain. This is carried out in three stages, steeping, germinating and kilning or drying. These processes must be affected in such a manner as to provide maximum fermentable matter (Malt Extract), adequate Diastolic Power and ensure minimum malting loss due to respiration etc. 

    MASHING

    The object of Mashing is to render soluble and to dissolve as much of the valuable contents of the Malt as is possible. This produces a sweet liquid or sugar solution termed Wort containing in addition to the sugars intermediate products. 

    The materials used in the Mashing process are Water and ground Malted Barley. The quality of the water plays an important part throughout this process and finally in the quality of the spirit produced.

    FERMENTATION

    Yeast is a unicellular micro organism, that is to say, it is a living organism whose individual units are visible only under the microscope. It belongs to the planet kingdom and is classified as one of the fungi. There are many different species of yeast but the one normally encountered in the distilling and brewing industries is called Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. To give some ideas of the minute size of this micro-organism, three fully grown yeast cells placed end to end will measure only one thousandth part of an inch and in a 1 lb packet of yeast, there are approximately seven billion cells. (7,000,000,000,000). 

    DISTILLATION

    Distilling takes place in pairs of copper pot stills with tall 'swan-necks'. One is usually larger than the other, otherwise their shapes, heights and sizes vary from distillery to distillery. The life of a still is between 15 and 30 years, depending on how hard it is used. 

    The two main operations in distilling are turning liquid into vapor and then vapor into liquid i.e. vaporization and then condensation. Distillation is simply a means of separation by these operations. A liquid can be separated from solids or one liquid from another and either the distillate or the residue collected. 

    MATURATION

    In this discourse up to this point no mention has been made of whisky. This is simply because the spirit produced cannot legally be termed Scotch whisky until it has been matured in oak casks for at least three years.

    If it is intended to sell the Malt Spirit as a single Malt Whisky then at least eight years maturation or preferably ten to twelve years will be necessitated