How is it made

Although I’m a „glass half full person,” this does not mean I am always optimistic. That means I like to hold a glass full or, at least, half full of whisky or other liqueur.
But until it can be poured into a glass, it has to come a long way.
Disclaimer!
This post is only for adults (18 or 21 years old, depending on restrictions in particular countries). This post is written only for entertainment and educational purposes.
Whisky production
The process is simple; after all, distilleries continue to practice this craft, utilizing machinery that isn't all that different from that from even a few hundred years ago.
The following steps make up the production process for single malt whiskey:

Malting
Barley grain must be soaked in water after preliminary examination. When the humidity level is appropriate, it is equally distributed in a several-centimeter layer on the floor.
The seed will sprout during the next few days. Inside the grains, a chemical process occurs in which the enzymes found within the grains transform starch into simple sugar (maltose), which can then be easily consumed by the yeast during the fermentation stage. The germinating seed generates a lot of heat throughout this process. The grain near the floor begins to overheat. Sprouting barley must be turned continuously to avoid scorching. It was done using a flat shovel at first, later with manual plows and electric plows.
Nowadays, just a few distilleries malt barley on the floor. Only seven Scottish distilleries do it. Malt is typically purchased from specialist industrial malt series, which germinate the barley in enormous drums that spin the grains automatically.
Drying/Kilning
When the barley has been adequately malted and contains the required amount of maltose, it must be dried to prevent germination. Otherwise, the growing shoot would consume all of the sugars in the grain in order to keep growing. Traditional drying involves placing the malt in a chamber with openings in the floor beneath which is a furnace (kiln) that is burned with peat carps (peat bogs). Dry, thick, and warm smoke enters the chamber, drying the grain and imparting the malt's distinctive aroma. The drying time is determined by the level of peatiness desired.
Surely, there is no need to utilize peat any longer. Modern distilleries use gas to power furnaces, and the malt is blow-dried with hot air, either without or with a small bit of peat.
Grinding
The grain husk still protects the malt. It must be ground to increase mashing efficiency. The majority of Scottish distilleries employ brewery grinders for this purpose.
However, the fineness of the grinding differs from that utilized in breweries. The basic objective here is to extract as much sugar from the malt as possible while keeping in mind that the flour itself may clog the installation and disrupt the functioning of the mixer in the mash tun. The resulting product is grist. In the grist, each distillery employs a different proportion of husk, grit, and flour.
Mashing
The mash tun is filled with grist. Mash vats come in a range of sizes, have a capacity of many tons, and can be either open or closed. They are often constructed of copper or stainless steel.
To remove the maltose from the husks and dissolve it in the water, heated water is poured over the meal in a vat. The food is often poured three times with water of varying degrees to rinse as much of it as possible. The temperature of the first water is roughly 60–70°C, the second water must be over 70°C, and the third water must be 80–90°C. The third water from the current batch of food serves as the first water for the subsequent batch due to the low sugar level at the end. As a result, wort, a sweet and thick liquid, is produced.
Fermentation
The yeast is added to the wort in fermentation tanks (washbacks). The most popular materials for fermentation vats are pine (Oregon) or stainless steel. They can hold up to a few thousand liters. They range in number from a few to a dozen at each distillery. Depending on the quantity of the wort and the type of yeast employed, fermentation can last anywhere from a few dozen hours to several days (often no longer than 3 days).
Brewer's yeast, distiller's yeast, or a combination of yeasts can also be used in distilleries. Due to the significant amount of carbon dioxide emitted during fermentation, the vats are sealed.  Due to the fact that carbon dioxide is heavier than oxygen, it drops down through the Vema floor (the grate floor) to the bottom chamber, where fans constantly remove it because its accumulation might be harmful.
Additionally, the fermentation process generates a lot of foam quickly, and this extra foam needs to be drained from the vat.
The resulting mash contains about 8% alcohol. It is some kind of beer without hops; it is eligible to drink, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It has a malty and smokey flavor.
Distillation
The mash is then sent to be distilled. It undergoes two distillations in a copper still (the surface of copper absorbs sulfur compounds from the distillate). Stills can come in a variety of sizes and shapes, including ones that are fatter, thinner, taller, or more squat, and those that have thickenings around the neck.
The flavor of the final distillate is impacted by all of this. The mash is cooked in the still to the alcohol's evaporation temperature, which is lower than that of water. The steam enters the radiator through the arm and neck, where it condenses.
Alembics can be heated using either steam or actual fire. They frequently operate in pairs.
The initial distillation occurs. Low wines are the distillate produced in this manner, which contains up to 24% alcohol. It needs to be redistilled because it is unfit for consumption. For the second distillation (spirit still), it is created in a smaller still. The alcohol acquired in this manner should be separated from foreshots and faints, leaving only the center fraction. A control box (spirit safe) through which the distilled alcohol flows is used by the distiller (Stillman) to accomplish this.
Stillman changes the lever once the alcohol exhibits particular characteristics. In a different pipe than the pre-tails, the middle fraction of the alcohol flow spins the hole from which it emerges. The chases begin to fly once all of the intermediate percent has been distilled. They need to fly into the same hole as the foretails, which requires another movement of the lever. The fore-tails and tails are sent to a second round of distillation after being combined with a new batch of low wines. Pumped from the spirit safe to the tank where it will wait to be emptied into barrels is fresh spirit from the middle fraction (new make), which contains 60–70% alcohol.


Maturation
Most frequently, these are used barrels that were once used to store sherry or bourbon, or, depending on the final effect that destillery wants to reach, barrels that have recently been burned or barrels of any other alcoholic beverage, such as port, dry wine, rum, cognac, etc. Barrels are sealed after being filled since excise tax has not yet been paid. The barrels are subsequently delivered to a tax warehouse, which is where they belong.
In such a warehouse, the temperature is moderate and does not change considerably. Of course, traditional warehouses are a dying breed given the present demand for whiskey. Large, multi-story industrial warehouses are replacing distilleries' cellars in an increasing number of cases, and only the most expensive whiskeys, valued in the billions of euros, are aged there. The legal requirement for whiskey maturation is a minimum of three years. Of fact, good whiskeys age much more slowly; the oldest ones can spend up to 70 years in barrels. But every year, two to three percent of the whiskey (Angels share) vanishes from barrels. Additionally, because alcohol evaporates more quickly than water, the amount of alcohol in the barrel drops.
Bottling
Bottling in small distilleries may be done manually at the plant, while at big, modern distilleries it is an automated process. Excise tax on whiskey is paid only at the bottling stage.
Well, I hope you enjoyed the post.
However, the whisky subject is a very extensive topic; regarding its production, storing, maturing, all kinds, degustation, etc., we can find a lot of comprehensive books and blogs about it.
I think it will be a funny topic for future posts.
Thanks for stopping by!
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_whisky
https://www.whiskyfoundation.com/2017/06/12/what-is-floor-malting/
https://images.app.goo.gl/BtzzSLsstCDDXPwb6
https://en.angelyeast.com/blog/distilled-spirits-and-biofuels/new-fermention-strategy-with-yellow-label.html
https://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2017/10/how-does-whisky-age/
https://zinnejbeczki.com/proces-produkcji-whisky-single-malt/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGE38HLcrus&list=PLWKu6a_-kolYpkncOQnVkQZFiMvcXfv44
https://www.kiltedpipertours.com/blog/whisky-distillery-tours-in-scotland/