The Main Types and Styles of Spirits
The big categories
Learn each category by its raw material and its defining rule:
- Whisky/whiskey - distilled from a cereal mash (barley, maize, wheat, rye) and matured in oak. Scotch must be matured in Scotland for at least three years; bourbon uses new charred oak containers and a majority-maize mash.
- Vodka - a neutral, high-strength spirit, usually filtered, with little aroma or flavour by design.
- Gin - a juniper-led spirit. Juniper must be the dominant botanical; other botanicals include coriander, citrus peel and angelica.
- Rum - from sugar cane juice or molasses. Styles range from light and unaged to rich, dark, tropical-aged spirit.
- Agave spirits - tequila and mezcal from Mexico. Tequila is made from blue agave; mezcal is generally roasted, giving smoke.
- Brandy - distilled from wine or fruit; Cognac and Armagnac are famous French grape examples.
- Liqueurs - sweetened spirits with added flavour, lower in alcohol than the base spirit.
Traps to watch for
- Gin does not have to be flavoured only by re-distillation; some are made by cold compounding.
- Rum is not automatically dark or sweetened.
- Tequila is not smoky; mezcal typically is.
- Whisky has no colour from grapes - colour comes from oak, and sometimes from caramel.
Worked example: a clear, neutral, 40% ABV spirit with no juniper aroma is vodka, not unaged gin or white rum - those would show identifiable character (botanicals, or cane/ester notes).