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Chill-filtration has long been a divisive subject, the overriding consensus is often against it, and it is seen as an unnatural and untraditional part of whisky production. Does it reflect the public's preference of looks over real substance, or is it a necessary evil? The process removes cloudiness that appears in whiskies that are less than around 46% abv. It usually occurs when they are chilled, or have water of ice added to them. Chill-filtration removes this unsightly haziness. First the spirit is chilled to around 0?C and congeners and fatty acids clump together, the whisky is passed through a fine mesh filter which removes them. Chill-filtration is used solely to improve the look of a whisky, and to maintain consistency. It is, after all, reassuring for a customer to know exactly what they are ordering, and for that product to remain consistent, both in flavour and in appearance, no matter what temperature and no matter if ice of water is added. So who are the culprits, and can you really tell the difference? First and foremost, the congeners that chill-filtration removes are said to hold a lot of the character, these are the polyphenols; the esters and aldehydes that offer body and aroma. Dalmore is a distillery that many associate with richness, their whiskies are rather full, after dinner drams with lots of deep marmalade. To further upset the purists, they also add spirit caramel to deepen the colour. Take their 12 Year Old for example, a marriage of Oloroso sherry and bourbon matured whisky. This was awarded a Bronze at the International Wine and Spirits Competition and Jim Murray awarded an impressive 90 points in his Whisky Bible. So this is evidently a very good whisky. It just leaves one imagining how much better it could have been had it none been chill-filtered, perhaps negligibly, perhaps a great deal ? Jim notes the Dalmore 12 ?has changed character of late but remains underpowered.? Regardless, it has a rich nose of coffee beans, warm pastries and musty oranges, leading into a marmalade rich palate, with spice and chocolate. Another classic dram that undergoes chill-filtration is Glenfiddich 12 Year Old. Glenfiddich is one of the best-selling single malts in the world; it's also an award-winner, receiving a Gold at the 2007 International Wine and Spirit Competition. Glenfiddich 12 is consistently well-rated whisky. The nose is of honey and crisp cereals, cut hay and nutty notes. The palate is gentle and fruity with vanilla cream and chewy malt. This, then, must be a great argument in favour of chill-filtration. Glenfiddich has maintained a consistent product, and a globally popular one at that. Furthermore, it is a very good whisky. And how about the real best-sellers? The blended whisky brands market their popular products as consistent and reliable. That's partly why they have such a loyal consumer base. Certainly, popular blends like Famous Grouse and Teacher's have not the same capacity for complexity and range of flavour as single malts, but they remain the driving force of the whisky industry. Without them, so many distilleries would be put out of business ? for the distillers depend on the blenders as a ready market for their malt whisky. So, perhaps there is a noticeable difference in chill-filtered whisky, and the process isn't really a nice idea, but there are plenty of examples of great single malts that have been chill-filtered, and perhaps if these are measures that must sometimes be taken to ensure consistency, and ensure a solid market to support the industry, then we can hardly complain. All of the whiskies mentioned in this article are available from the excellent Master of Malt.
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Tania Gannaway has been tasting single malt whisky for over 20 years. One of his favourites at the moment is Tomatin Whisky, a single cask single malt whisky.
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