Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, commonly of charred white oak. Uncharred white oak casks previously used for the aging of port, rum, or sherry may be employed during storage to impart a unique flavour and colour.
Whisky is a strictly regulated spirit worldwide with many classes and types. The typical unifying characteristics of the different classes and types are the fermentation of grains, distillation, and aging in wooden casks.
Etymology The word whisky (or whiskey) is an anglicisation of the Classical Gaelic word (or ) meaning "water" (now written as in Modern Irish, and in Scottish Gaelic). This Gaelic word shares its ultimate origins with Germanic water and Slavic voda of the same meaning. Distilled alcohol was known in Latin as ("water of life"). This was translated into Middle Irish as , which became () in Irish and in Scottish Gaelic. Early forms of the word in English included uskebeaghe (1581), usquebaugh (1610), usquebath (1621), and usquebae (1715).
Names and spellings Much is made of the word's two spellings: whisky and whiskey.Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition: "In modern trade usage, Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey are thus distinguished in spelling; 'whisky' is the usual spelling in Britain and 'whiskey' that in the U.S." There are two schools of thought on the issue. One is that the spelling difference is simply a matter of regional language convention for the spelling of a word, indicating that the spelling varies depending on the intended audience or the background or personal preferences of the writer (like the difference between color and colour; or recognize and recognise), and the other is that the spelling should depend on the style or origin of the spirit being described. There is general agreement that when quoting the proper name printed on a label, one should not alter its spelling.
The spelling whiskey is common in Ireland and the United States, while whisky is used in all other whisky-producing countries. In the US, the usage has not always been consistent. From the late eighteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, US publications used both spellings interchangeably until the introduction of newspaper style guides. Since the 1960s, American writers have increasingly used whiskey as the accepted spelling for aged grain spirits made in the US and whisky for aged grain spirits made outside the US. However, some US brands, such as George Dickel, Maker's Mark, and Old Forester (all made by different companies), use the whisky spelling on their labels, and the Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits, the legal regulations for spirit in the US, also use the whisky spelling throughout.
Scotch Whisky made in Scotland is simply called whisky within Scotland. Elsewhere and in the regulations of the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) that govern its production, it is commonly called Scotch whisky or simply Scotch (especially in North America). It is legally required that Scotch whisky be distilled and matured in oak casks in Scotland for a minimum of three years, under strict regulations that protect its designation and quality.
History Early distilling It is possible that distillation was practised by the Babylonians in Mesopotamia in the 2nd millennium BC, with perfumes and aromatics being distilled,Martin Levey (1956). "Babylonian Chemistry: A Study of Arabic and Second Millennium B.C. Perfumery", Osiris 12, p. 376-389. but this is subject to uncertain and disputed interpretations of evidence.
The earliest certain chemical distillations were by Greeks in Alexandria in the 1st century AD, but these were not distillations of alcohol. The medieval Arabs adopted the distillation technique of the Alexandrian Greeks, and written records in Arabic begin in the 9th century, but again these were not distillations of alcohol. Distilling technology passed from the medieval Arabs to the medieval Latins, with the earliest records in Latin in the early 12th century.
The earliest records of the distillation of alcohol are in Italy in the 13th century, where alcohol was distilled from wine. An early description of the technique was given by Ramon Llull (1232–1315). Its use spread through medieval monasteries, largely for medicinal purposes, such as the treatment of colic and smallpox.
Ireland and Scotland The practice of distillation had spread to Ireland by the 12th century and Scotland by the 15th century, as did the common European practice of distilling aqua vitae, a spirit alcohol, primarily for medicinal purposes.Whiskey: Technology, Production and Marketing: Handbook of Alcoholic Beverages Series p2 Academic Press 2003 The practice of medicinal distillation eventually passed from a monastic setting to the secular via professional medical practitioners of the time, the Guild of Barber-Surgeons. The earliest mention of whiskey in Ireland comes from the Annals of Clonmacnoise, which attributes the death of a chieftain in 1405 to "taking a surfeit of aqua vitae" at Christmas. In Scotland, the first evidence of whisky production comes from an entry in the Exchequer Rolls for 1495 where malt is sent "To Friar John Cor, by order of the king, to make aquavitae", enough to make about 500 bottles.
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.
At this time, the distillation process was still in its infancy; whisky was not aged in barrels, and as a result, it had a sharp, unrefined flavour and a high alcohol content. It was consumed without dilution and lacked the smoother, more balanced characteristics that aging would later introduce. Over time, both production methods and consumer tastes evolved, leading to the development of the more refined and palatable whisky.
18th century In 1707, the Acts of Union merged England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and thereafter taxes on distilled spirits rose dramatically. Following parliament's divisive malt tax of 1725, most of Scotland's distillation was either shut down or forced underground. Scotch whisky was hidden under altars, in coffins, and in any available space to avoid the governmental excisemen or revenuers. Scottish distillers, operating out of homemade stills, took to distilling whisky at night when the darkness hid the smoke from the stills. At one point, it was estimated that over half of Scotland's whisky output was illegal.
In North America, whisky was used as currency during the late 18th century; George Washington operated a large distillery at Mount Vernon with hired and enslaved workers. Given the distances and primitive transportation network of colonial America, farmers often found it easier and more profitable to convert corn to whisky and transport it to market in that form. It also was a highly coveted trade good, and when an additional excise tax was levied against it in 1791, the Whiskey Rebellion erupted.
19th century
Scottish whisky was introduced to the British raj in India in the nineteenth century. The first distillery in India was founded by Edward Dyer at Kasauli in the late 1820s. The distillery was relocated to nearby Solan (close to the British summer capital Shimla), as there was an abundant supply of fresh spring water there. In 1823, the UK passed the Excise Act, legalising distillation (for a fee), and this put a practical end to the large-scale production of home distilled whisky.
In 1831, Aeneas Coffey patented the Coffey still, allowing for a cheaper and more efficient distillation of whisky. In 1850, Andrew Usher began producing a blended whisky that mixed traditional pot still whisky with that from the new Coffey still. The new distillation method was scoffed at by some Irish distillers, who clung to their traditional pot stills. Many Irish contended that the new product was, in fact, not whisky at all.
in the 1830s and 1840s, the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, was formed around an illicit whiskey distillery run by Pierre Parrant inside a cave that served US Army soldiers at Fort Snelling and Native American warriors who had fought them during the Dakota War of 1862.Brainard Kunz, Virginia (1991). McClure, Jane (ed.). Saint Paul, The First 150 Years. The Saint Paul Foundation, Inc. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-9630690-0-9. By the 1880s, the French brandy industry was devastated by the phylloxera pest that devastated much of the grape crop; as a result, whisky became the primary spirit in many markets.
20th century
During the Prohibition era in the United States lasting from 1920 to 1933, all alcohol sales were banned in the country. The federal government made an exemption for whisky prescribed by a doctor and sold through licensed pharmacies, such as Walgreens.
Production Although specific methods may vary among distilleries, whisky production broadly comprises four primary stages: grain preparation, fermentation, distillation, and maturation (aging). This process is typically followed by the two additional stages of bottling and marketing.
Grain preparation To initiate whisky production, grains are processed to convert their starches into fermentable sugars, which can then be subjected to fermentation and distillation. This process involves malting, milling and mashing the grains.
Malting Malt production begins with the soaking of grains in water tanks for a period of three days. The soaked grains are then transferred to large containers where germination occurs, initiating the metabolic process that converts starches into sugars. This process is subsequently halted by drying the grains with hot air, a procedure also known as kilning, at the end of which the product is malt. In the production of Scotch whisky, the air used for kilning is heated by burning peat bricks in a furnace, imparting the characteristic smoky flavour to the malt. The primary purpose of malting is to develop the natural enzymes needed to convert the grain's starches into fermentable sugars during mashing. Today, many distilleries use commercially produced enzymes instead of relying on malted grain, allowing them to use unmalted grains while still achieving efficient starch conversion.
Milling Following the malting process, the grains are transferred to a dressing machine, which separates the sprouts from the seeds. The grains are then conveyed to a mill for grinding.
Mashing The extraction of sugars to be converted into alcohol is achieved through a process known as mashing. During mashing, the diastase enzyme is activated, which facilitates the conversion of starches and dextrins into sugars. The ground malt is introduced into a mashtun, a large vat containing hot water, and is agitated for approximately thirty minutes or more. The water is then drained from the mashtun, which is subsequently refilled with hot water. This procedure is typically repeated between one and three times. Once complete, the resulting liquid, known as wort, which contains the extracted sugars, is separated from the mash, cooled, and transferred to the washbacks, or fermenting vats.
Fermentation