Characterization of lactobacilli from Scotch malt whisky distilleries and description of Lactobacillus ferintoshensis sp. nov., a new species isolated from malt whisky fermentations.

Sixty-four strains of Lactobacillus were isolated from fermentation samples from 23 malt whisky distilleries located in the major whisky producing regions of Scotland. The strains were assigned to 26 ribotype patterns. Strains of some ribotype patterns were widely distributed and recovered from distilleries throughout Scotland, while strains representing other ribotypes were particular to a specific region or even a certain distillery.