At Grand Royal, we use only the finest ingredients and follow traditional processes to ensure a product of consistent quality.
At Grand Royal, we use only the finest ingredients and follow traditional processes to ensure a product of consistent quality.
Choice grains are received and quality ensured and further undergo sieving to remove any presence of foreign matter, before finally crushed and milled. Objective of this stage is to prepare the grains in optimum size for enzymatic action during the cooking process.
Milled grains are mixed with hot water from specially treated water before transferring to cereal cookers or mash tuns and slurry is raised to target temperature. Three important steps happen during the cooking process in preparation for the next process:
• Gelatinization – intermolecular bonds of the starch molecules are broken allowing the hydrogen bonding sites (the hydroxyl hydrogen and oxygen) to engage more water. This irreversibly dissolves the starch granule in water
• Liquefaction – proceeds next with the introduction of enzyme particularly alpha-amylases which reduces dextrin chain length and mash viscosity.
• Saccharification – hydrolysis of polysaccharides to soluble sugars happen
Finally, the soluble sugars are ready for further action when the sweet liquor from the mash tun is cooled and transferred to large “washbacks” or fermenting vessels where yeast is added in order to convert the sugar to alcohol
Distillation is the separation or partial separation of a liquid feed mixture into components or fractions by selective boiling (or evaporation) and condensation. Washbacks are fed into series of column stills with the ultimate objective of collecting ethanol and separating other by – products.
The process of distillation for malt whisky and grain whisky differ in that malt whisky is produced by “Batch” distillations in pot stills while grain whisky is distilled in columns which is a patent of “Coffey” still, a continuously running still.
This process is required for products with Aged Grain Whisky. Spirit from the stills is filled into imported oak casks made from white oak. Casks are critical to the taste and appearance of the final whisky. Casks impart the characteristic profile to the whisky and must spend years maturing in warehouses under controlled conditions before it can be considered as an Aged Grain Whisky. During this period of maturation, portion of the spirit loses a fraction of the volume known as angel’s share as the spirit breathes and mellows.