Lactic acid bacteria generate precursors of γ‐lactones, which contribute to sweet and fatty flavour, from unsaturated fatty acids. In this study the distribution of enantiomers of γ‐decalactone and γ‐dodecalactone in malt whiskies were studied using multi‐dimensional GC in an effort to elucidate the mechanism of formation of these lactones. The enantiomeric excess of these lactones was within the range of −10 to 30%. Furthermore, racemic methyl‐10‐hydroxystearate was synthesized and optically resolved by chiral‐phase HPLC. The chirality of γ‐dodecalactone produced was dependent on the chirality of the hydroxy fatty acid or its methyl ester supplied as the substrate, based on the results of a series of experiments in which the acid or the ester was supplied to distiller's yeast.