Whisky or whiskey is a distilled spirit made from cereals.
The word "whisky" comes from the Gaelic word "usquebaugh", which means the "water of life" because alchemists were convinced that whisky was the long-sought cure for old age.
The Scots and Canadians spell it whisky; the Americans and Irish spell it whiskey.
Whiskey is an American bourbon-based spirit. For a whiskey to be considered bourbon, the mixture of grains from which the product is distilled (the mash) must be, at least, 51% corn, rye, wheat, malted barley, or malted rye grain. Scotch whisky is distilled from malt and Irish whiskey is a barley-based spirit.
Irish whiskey has a smoother, sweeter flavour compared to Scotch because of the use of peat in the distillation process.
In the 18th century whisky was also a name for a light horse-drawn carriage, probably more for the speed suggested by "whisk" than the drink.
The earliest known record of whisky production dates back to 1494 but the word whisky was not seen until 1715.
Charles Dickens spelt it whiskey in Martin Chuzzlewit but used both whisky and whiskey in The Pickwick Papers.
Whiskey distillation began in Ireland and crossed via Islay and the Campbeltown peninsula to Scotland.
The first written record of Scotch Whisky appeared on June 1, 1495 in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. Friar John Cor was the distiller.
James IV of Scotland (r. 1488–1513) reportedly had a great liking for Scotch whisky, and in 1506 the town of Dundee purchased a large amount of whisky from the Guild of Barber Surgeons, which held the monopoly on production at the time.
Between 1536 and 1541, King Henry VIII of England dissolved the monasteries, sending their monks out into the general public. Whisky production moved out of a monastic setting and into personal homes and farms as newly independent monks needed to find a way to earn money for themselves.
Queen Elizabeth I of England was partial to whiskey, indeed she claimed Irish whiskey was "her only true Irish friend".
Whiskey used to often be drunk from lead cups, but the combination sometimes knocked the drinker out. The unfortunate imbiber was then laid out on the kitchen table and the family gathered around and waited to see if the comatose drinker woke up. This was called "holding a wake."
The Reverend Elijah Craig (1738/1743 – May 18, 1808) was a Baptist preacher, educator, and entrepreneur in Fayette County, Virginia, which later became Scott County, Kentucky. In approximately 1789, Craig founded a distillery there. It is claimed he was the first to distil bourbon, a whiskey distilled from a mixture of grains, around 50% being maize. He called his corn-based whiskey 'bourbon', to distinguish it from the rye-based whiskies commonly distilled in the eastern United States.
While it is not entirely clear how bourbon got its name, most historians agree that it was probably not named for Bourbon County, Kansas.
In 1791 the American Congress passed a law authorizing the federal government to collect taxes on distilled liquor. In Western Pennsylvania farmers who distilled whiskey from the grain they grew were incensed at the high duty being placed on their liquor sales and some refused to pay it.
By 1794 the whiskey rebellion in Western Pennsylvania was gathering momentum and the home of the regional tax inspector's home had been set on fire. On August 7, 1794 President George Washington issued a presidential proclamation announcing, with "the deepest regret", that the militia would be called out to suppress the rebellion.
12,950 militia were sent the following month to assert the power of the federal government.
Washington left Philadelphia (which at that time was the capital of the United States) on September 30 to review the progress of the military expedition. He was one of only two sitting presidents to lead an army while in office.
When the militia arrived in Pennsylvania, the rebels disbanded and fled and the unrest was quashed without bloodshed.
After his presidency, George Washington operated a distillery as part of his Mount Vernon plantation. When it was completed in 1797, the distillery was the largest in America. By the end of the century it was producing 11,000 gallons of whiskey per year.
By the 1820s the Canadian whisky industry was proving to be successful. Canadian whiskies back then were light in body and flavor and were a blended multi-grain variant of the American type. They were composed of combinations of corn, barley malt and in particular rye prepared according to the formula of the individual producer.
In 1820, the average American drank half a pint of whisky every day.
ETYMOLOGY
The word "whisky" comes from the Gaelic word "usquebaugh", which means the "water of life" because alchemists were convinced that whisky was the long-sought cure for old age.
The Scots and Canadians spell it whisky; the Americans and Irish spell it whiskey.
Whiskey is an American bourbon-based spirit. For a whiskey to be considered bourbon, the mixture of grains from which the product is distilled (the mash) must be, at least, 51% corn, rye, wheat, malted barley, or malted rye grain. Scotch whisky is distilled from malt and Irish whiskey is a barley-based spirit.
Irish whiskey has a smoother, sweeter flavour compared to Scotch because of the use of peat in the distillation process.
In the 18th century whisky was also a name for a light horse-drawn carriage, probably more for the speed suggested by "whisk" than the drink.
The earliest known record of whisky production dates back to 1494 but the word whisky was not seen until 1715.
Charles Dickens spelt it whiskey in Martin Chuzzlewit but used both whisky and whiskey in The Pickwick Papers.
HISTORY
Whiskey distillation began in Ireland and crossed via Islay and the Campbeltown peninsula to Scotland.
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| Distillery barrels |
The first written record of Scotch Whisky appeared on June 1, 1495 in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. Friar John Cor was the distiller.
James IV of Scotland (r. 1488–1513) reportedly had a great liking for Scotch whisky, and in 1506 the town of Dundee purchased a large amount of whisky from the Guild of Barber Surgeons, which held the monopoly on production at the time.
Between 1536 and 1541, King Henry VIII of England dissolved the monasteries, sending their monks out into the general public. Whisky production moved out of a monastic setting and into personal homes and farms as newly independent monks needed to find a way to earn money for themselves.
Queen Elizabeth I of England was partial to whiskey, indeed she claimed Irish whiskey was "her only true Irish friend".
Whiskey used to often be drunk from lead cups, but the combination sometimes knocked the drinker out. The unfortunate imbiber was then laid out on the kitchen table and the family gathered around and waited to see if the comatose drinker woke up. This was called "holding a wake."
The Reverend Elijah Craig (1738/1743 – May 18, 1808) was a Baptist preacher, educator, and entrepreneur in Fayette County, Virginia, which later became Scott County, Kentucky. In approximately 1789, Craig founded a distillery there. It is claimed he was the first to distil bourbon, a whiskey distilled from a mixture of grains, around 50% being maize. He called his corn-based whiskey 'bourbon', to distinguish it from the rye-based whiskies commonly distilled in the eastern United States.
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| By Jclark754 |
While it is not entirely clear how bourbon got its name, most historians agree that it was probably not named for Bourbon County, Kansas.
In 1791 the American Congress passed a law authorizing the federal government to collect taxes on distilled liquor. In Western Pennsylvania farmers who distilled whiskey from the grain they grew were incensed at the high duty being placed on their liquor sales and some refused to pay it.
By 1794 the whiskey rebellion in Western Pennsylvania was gathering momentum and the home of the regional tax inspector's home had been set on fire. On August 7, 1794 President George Washington issued a presidential proclamation announcing, with "the deepest regret", that the militia would be called out to suppress the rebellion.
12,950 militia were sent the following month to assert the power of the federal government.
Washington left Philadelphia (which at that time was the capital of the United States) on September 30 to review the progress of the military expedition. He was one of only two sitting presidents to lead an army while in office.
When the militia arrived in Pennsylvania, the rebels disbanded and fled and the unrest was quashed without bloodshed.
After his presidency, George Washington operated a distillery as part of his Mount Vernon plantation. When it was completed in 1797, the distillery was the largest in America. By the end of the century it was producing 11,000 gallons of whiskey per year.
By the 1820s the Canadian whisky industry was proving to be successful. Canadian whiskies back then were light in body and flavor and were a blended multi-grain variant of the American type. They were composed of combinations of corn, barley malt and in particular rye prepared according to the formula of the individual producer.
In 1820, the average American drank half a pint of whisky every day.
In the 1820s whiskey sold for twenty- five cents a gallon, making it cheaper than beer, wine, coffee, tea, or milk. Annual consumption may have been as high as ten gallons per person. This level of consumption was over four times the current rate.
The 11 a.m. meal of Elevenses consisted of drinking whiskey. According to W Rorabaugh's The Alcoholic Republic, "liquor tended to be taken in small quantities throughout the day, often with meals. Instead of a morning coffee break, Americans stopped work at 11:00 a.m. to drink. A lot of work went undone but in this slow paced, pre-industrial age this was not always a problem. A drunken stage coach driver posed little threat, since the horses knew the route and made their own way home".
In 1830, the average person in America over 15 years old drank 88 bottles of whiskey a year - One bottle every 4.2 days.
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| A man pours some whisky into a flask in this 1869 oil painting by Scottish artist Erskine Nicol |
The Great Whiskey Fire of Dublin on June 18, 1875 was when 5,000 barrels of whiskey ignited and flowed into the streets. 13 people died that day, but not from burns or smoke inhalation, All victims died of alcohol poisoning by drinking the whiskey flowing through the streets.
On the morning of November 21, 1906, one of the Glasgow-located Loch Katrine (Adelphi) Distillery’s massive washback vats collapsed. The vat held around 50,000 gallons of liquid and was situated on the top floor of the building. In the street outside, a number of farm servants with carts were waiting to pick up the malt refuse for cattle feed. A tidal wave of of over 150,000 gallons of red hot whisky smashed into them, throwing men and horses across the street where they struggled waist deep in the alcoholic mixture. One man James Ballantyne, a farm servant from Hyndland Farm, Busby, suffered severe internal injuries and died shortly after admission to the infirmary.
The first known mention of mixing whiskey with Coca Cola was in a 1907 report of an employee of the United States Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, who encountered the drink when visiting the South. Today, the drink is considered low-brow cultural fare and tends to be frowned upon by whiskey aficionados
FUN WHISKY FACTS
Most distilled spirits that are labelled as "whisky" in India are a form of Indian-made foreign liquor, commonly blends based on neutral spirits that are distilled from fermented molasses with only 10 to 12 per cent consisting of traditional malt whisky, Outside India, such a drink would more likely be labelled a rum.
Officer's Choice commonly known as OC, is an Indian whisky brand which is owned by Allied Blenders & Distillers. It is considered to be one of the largest spirit brands in the world. In 2015 Officer's Choice overtook Smirnoff vodka to become the world's largest selling spirit brand.
There are five distinct categories of Scotch whisky; single malt Scotch, single grain Scotch, blended malt Scotch, blended grain Scotch and blended Scotch.
Scotland is the biggest producer of whisky in the world, and has been for at least 100 years. On average, 34 bottles of whisky are exported from Scotland every second. The revenue from these sales in 2015 amounted to £3.86billion.
Until 2013 Johnnie Walker was the most widely distributed brand of blended Scotch whisky in the world, selling in almost every country, with annual sales of the equivalent of over 223.7 million 700 ml bottles in 2016 (156.6 million litres). In 2013 it was overtaken by Officer's Choice.
The drink must be aged in oak barrels for at least three years before it may be called whisky.
There are almost four barrels of whisky sitting in Scotland ageing, for every person.
Single-malt scotch means that it comes from one distillery, not one barrel. Blends can have up to 40 different distilleries.
In an effort to revitalize sales, Canadian Club hid 25 cases of whisky throughout the planet in July 1967, encouraging adventurers to seek them out. Over 50 years later, there are still nine cases undiscovered.
World Whisky Day takes place on the third Saturday in May each year.
The most expensive bottle of whisky sold at auction is The Macallan Valerio Adami 60 Year Old 1926, which fetched a record-breaking £2,187,500 (approximately $2.73 million) at an Sotheby's auction in London on November 18, 2023. This sale set a new record for whisky auctions, surpassing previous records by a significant margin. The whisky was distilled in 1926 and matured in ex-sherry casks for 60 years. It was released in a limited edition of only 40 bottles, and is considered to be one of the rarest and most sought-after whiskies in the world.
The leading whisky drinkers of the world are the French, followed by Uruguay and the USA.
FUN WHISKEY FACTS
Whiskey is clear when it is first distilled. It gets its color and much of its taste from the oak barrels in which it is aged.
Distillers call the 20 percent or more of whiskey that evaporates as it ages “the angel’s share.”
There are more barrels of Bourbon in the state of Kentucky than there are people.
The creator of Maker's Mark bourbon did not have time to distill and age whiskey to taste test it, but he had created seven possible grain recipes and was unsure which to pick. He baked bread with each one, and the best tasting bread was picked as the grain "mashbill" recipe for Maker's.
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey is the number one selling American whiskey in the world, with over 16.1 million cases sold in 2017. The Brown-Forman brand is not only the most popular whiskey in America, it's the best-selling spirit, period, in the country, and the fourth best-selling spirit in the world.
In 1955 Jack Daniel's was selling about 150,000 cases annually of its black-labeled Tennessee whiskey. That year Frank Sinatra endorsed the liquor during a performance. Because of that, by the end of 1956 Jack Daniel's sold about 300,000 cases.
Jack Daniel's last words were "One last drink, please."
Jack Daniels employees get a free bottle of Jack on the first payday of each month.
Jack Daniel's headquarters is in a dry county so their product is not available for purchase in the area.
Sources Daily Express, New York Times, Alcoholproblemsandsolutions, HistoricUK
There are more barrels of Bourbon in the state of Kentucky than there are people.
The creator of Maker's Mark bourbon did not have time to distill and age whiskey to taste test it, but he had created seven possible grain recipes and was unsure which to pick. He baked bread with each one, and the best tasting bread was picked as the grain "mashbill" recipe for Maker's.
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| Production line at the Maker's Mark distillery in Loretto, Kentucky By Shadle |
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey is the number one selling American whiskey in the world, with over 16.1 million cases sold in 2017. The Brown-Forman brand is not only the most popular whiskey in America, it's the best-selling spirit, period, in the country, and the fourth best-selling spirit in the world.
In 1955 Jack Daniel's was selling about 150,000 cases annually of its black-labeled Tennessee whiskey. That year Frank Sinatra endorsed the liquor during a performance. Because of that, by the end of 1956 Jack Daniel's sold about 300,000 cases.
Jack Daniel's last words were "One last drink, please."
Jack Daniels employees get a free bottle of Jack on the first payday of each month.
Jack Daniel's headquarters is in a dry county so their product is not available for purchase in the area.
Sources Daily Express, New York Times, Alcoholproblemsandsolutions, HistoricUK
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