If you’re interested in ‘P’ you’ve come to the right place. Here you can find more
information about many whisky words and brand names starting with the letter ‘p’.
Most of the entries are fairly directly related to whisky production and enjoyment,
but I threw in some general knowledge as well. It’s always good to know stuff, if
only to bridge lulls in conversation. Follow me on Twitter or Facebook for updates.
The ‘pagoda’ style ventilator on many kilns was invented by Charles Doig.
From a clinical perspective, the palate is the roof of the mouth.
In tasting notes, ‘palate’ usually refers to a drink’s taste and mouth feel.
The fairly generic term patent still is synonymous with ‘column still’.
The ‘Pattison’ crisis was one of the biggest ‘busts’ of the whisky industry.
Paxarette (a.k.a. pajarete) is a mixture of Spanish wine and must.
The drops of whisky inside a glass after shaking it, giving away the proof.
Peat is made up from dried and partially decayed vegetation like peat moss.
The description ‘peaty’ is used for smoky and phenolic smells and flavours.
The ‘Peerless Collection’ is a range from the bottler Murray McDavid.
The Penderyn distillery made the first (legal) whisky in Wales since 1894.
Unassuming springs on Percock Hill provide Glen Garioch with its water.
The Pernod Ricard drinks conglomerate owns 13 Scotch whisky distilleries.
Phenols like 2,4-dimethylphenol can be found in some Scotch whisky.
A phylloxera epidemic ruined the French cognac industry in the 19th century.
The picts were a people that inhabited Scotland before the 'Scotti' invaded.
Usually, the word ‘pipe’ refers to a port cask - containing about 475 litres.
The beautiful town of Pitlochry is home to no less than two distilleries.
The Pittyvaich distillery was founded in 1975 - and closed again in 1993.
pagoda
palate (1)
palate (2)
patent still
Pattison Whisky Crisis
paxarette
pearls
peat
peaty
Peerless
Penderyn
Percock Hill
Pernod Ricard
phenols
phylloxera
picts
pipe
Pitlochry
Pittyvaich
poiteen
pon
port
Port Charlotte
Port Dundas
Port Ellen
Port of Leith
pot ale
pot still
PPM
Praban Na Linne
premium
Prestonfield
private bottling
process water
proof
Pulteney
puncheon
pure malt
Poteen or poitín is an Irish pot still distillate. The ABV can reach 90% ABV.
The name 'pon' is used in the USA for a puncheon type cask (1/3 tun).
The port wine variety from Portugal is produced in the Douro valley.
Bruichladdich makes lightly peated Port Charlotte and heavier Octomore.
The Port Dundas grain whisky distillery was closed in 2009 or 2010.
The legendary Port Ellen distillery on Islay was closed in 1983.
In early 2017 plans for a new ‘Port of Leith’ distillery were unveiled.
So-called 'pot ale' (or burnt ale) is what remains in the still after distillation.
A copper pot still is the traditional type used for Scotch and Irish whiskey.
PPM is the abbreviation for ‘Parts Per Million’ - which can indicate peat levels.
Praban Na Linne was founded in 1976 by Sir Iain Noble on the Isle of Skye.
The phrase ‘premium’ sounds more attractive than ‘extra expensive’.
The Prestonfield whisky brand was a predecessor of Signatory Vintage.
A ‘private bottling’ is sort of synonymous withan independent bottling.
Process water is the type of water used for mashing and making whisky.
Before ABV became the standard, several 'proof' systems existed.
The Old Pulteney distillery dropped the ‘Old’ part of its name recently.
A puncheon is a cask size in the old imperial system in Great Britain.
The phrase ‘pure malt’ was used for some vatted malts in the past.
Your palate makes up the roof of your mouth.
This meaning of the word is not very important in relation
to tasting whisky - but the picture at the right shows one
interesting feature that does play a role in the process.
Hidden behind the uvula, there’s a secret passageway
to your nose. This allows for some kind of ‘backdraft’
that combines the evolving aromas of the last sip that
you ingested with the smells from the whisky in the glass.
That’s one of the reasons the next sip seems to taste
even better than the last one. Well, up to a certain point.
When used in tasting notes the word ‘palate’ usually refers
to the flavour and mouth feel of a particular wine, whisky or whiskey.
The Pattison whisky crisis is one of the most striking examples of the ‘boom and bust’ cycle of the Scotch
whisky industry. The brothers Walter G.G. Pattison and Robert P. Pattison started out as dairy barons from
Edinburgh. After a phylloxera epidemic destroyed the French vinyards they saw this as the perfect moment
to get into the spirits business. They started a blending company in 1887 and boomed along with the rest
of the industry. Things didn’t end well - but I’ll get into that in the ‘premium’ section of Malt Madness.
Peaty and smoky whiskies derive that trait from phenols or phenolics - compounds with an aromatic
hydrocarbon group and an ‘OH’ hydroxiyl group. The chemical composition of phenols is similar to
alcohols, but they are not classified as such. There are hundreds of different phenols.
Poiteen - also known as Poitín, potcheen, poteen or potheen - is an Irish spirit distilled in pot stills.
Its name is derived from that pot still. Like Irish whiskey it can be made from grains, but from potatoes, sugar
beets or treacle as well. Poiteen is usually not aged in oak casks and the ABV can vary from 40% to 90%.
The ‘pagoda’ style ventilator that crowns the chimney of many kilns of Scotch malt whisky distilleries has
grown into a symbol for the entire industry. It was invented by Charles Doig - so it was initially simply known
as a “Doig Ventilator”. The similarity to eastern pagodas is limited to the very top and also superficial.
The function of this typical ‘Scottish’ construction is actually closer to the cupola that can be found on the
top of some barns. It’s main function is increasing ventilation by creating a constant updraft.
The wine paxarette (also spelled as ‘pajarete’ - and many other ways) might be frowned upon by
whisky purists, but it made sure that we were able to enjoy many more ‘sherried’ whiskies than we would
otherwise have. As sherry consumption dropped after 1980, fewer used sherry casks were available.
So, they started to ‘season’ casks with paxarette (wine with boiled down must) before filling them.
When we’re talking about whisky pearls we mean the little drops that stick to the inside of your glass after
you’ve given it a good swirl or shake. The slower the drops descend, the higher the ABV of the whisky...
These days, peat isn’t used as an ‘industrial’
fuel source any more. However, the pungent
peat smoke full of phenols is still used to dry
malted barley and give it peaty, smoky traits.
Peat was also an important fuel source for many
illicit stills in the Highlands of Scotland. Wood was
scarce and coal. oil and electricity took a long time
reaching the most remote parts of the country.
In the not too distant past, peat was used for
many different things. It was an important fuel
before coal and electricity took over and poor
Dutch people even built their houses out of it.
Distilleries need a lot of water; that’s why they are often located near glens and streams. However, a lot
of that water is needed for cooling. Process water is the purest water that goes into the mash and stills.
The phylloxera epidemic of the mid-19th century (also known as the ‘Great French Wine Blight’) was
caused by the aphid ‘grape phylloxera’. This pest was inadvertently imported into European vineyards from
America around the year 1860. European vines did not have any resistance against the poison that this
pest injects into the roots, so within a few years French crops started to falter. In the next few decades the
French wine and cognac industries were decimated, allowing alternatives like.whisky and absinth to grow.
The fortified wine port is produced in the Douro valley in northern Portugal. It is sweeter than most sherry
varieties and second-hand port casks were among the first to be used for the ‘finishing’ of malt whisky.
The phrase ‘pure malt’ was one of several that was used to describe a ‘vatted malt’; a blend of several
malt whiskies from different distilleries. This classification was banned some time ago because the SWA
claimed it confused consumers. That seemed like a logical explanation - until this industry body introduced
a new classification a few years later. Now the SWA promoted the name ‘blended malts’ for this category.
Even before the scientific revolution of the 19th century, people needed a way to establish the alcohol
contents of a spirit or whisky - if only just for tax purposes. These days almost all civilised countries use
ABV (alcohol by volume), but in the past many countries used their own proof systems. In the UK the
measurement required gunpowder and proof was 175% of the ABV. In the USA proof is double the ABV.
(* The old technology used for Malt Madness doesn’t allow me to present the information in the most user-friendly
way possible. Check out my new personal website for a fresh attempt at a site, covering a wider range of topics.
A puncheon is a specific cask type. As if the old Imperial system wasn’t confusing enough, it was also
known as a tertian (or pon in the USA) because it was defined as one third of a tun - about 320 litres.
The phrase ‘private bottling’ could indicate a bottling from a privately owned cask of whisky, but it is
not a legal definition as such. In reality, the name is used to describe independent bottlings as well.
When the whisky industry started to use the phrase ‘premium’ to describe a particular type of whisky,
they had obviously given up on suggesting that those were intrinsically better than affordable whisky.
PPM is short for Parts Per Million - a way to indicate the relative abundance of specific chemicals or
compounds in a solution. In the whisky world, it is mostly used to indicate the phenol levels in a spirit.
The pot still is the original type of still used for the production of Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey.
Being made from copper they tend to produce a better quality spirit than more ‘industrial’ column stills.
