Whisky (whiskey) traces its origins back hundreds of centuries and has been idiolized and demonized but still remains as popular as ever. Find out how it got there
The history of whisky is one bathed in legend, rivalry and blood.
This spirit has inspired songs and allayed grief, and continues to stir the whisky lover’s soul to this day.
One popular legend about its origin comes from the Irish, who make the claim that Saint Patrick himself brought the distillation process to Ireland from Spain in the fifth century. The drink was made by using what was available in Ireland at the time, specifically malted barely. One hundred years later, a group of Scots passing through picked up the idea and took it to their homeland where they quickly began distilling their own whisky.
Some - mostly Scottish - say the Irish may have invented whisky, but it took a Scotsman to perfect it.
What is generally agreed upon is that the name “whisky” comes from a bastardization of the original Gaelic name for the drink.
Water of Life
Soon whisky developed an almost religious following in Scotland with peasants and kings alike professing its magical, medicinal virtues. So much so that it acquired the name “aqua vitae” or water of life.
Whisky was used as a health tonic, to treat pain and even smallpox. Its healing properties were further fueled when in 1505 the right to distill whisky was given exclusively to the Guild of Surgeon Barbers in Edinburgh, Scotland. The barbers being the accepted medical professionals at the time legitimized the widely held beliefs.
The bootlegging years
By the late 1600s the spirit had gained so much popularity, that the Scottish government decided it was a perfect time to impose a tax. By the early 1700s many a distiller had gone underground. Bloody conflicts raged between the tax collectors and the bootleggers. The illegally distilled whisky was smuggled in improvised containers including coffins and hidden in churches with ministers’ consent.
The smuggling across Scotland continued for more than 100 years. Some estimates state half of the whisky consumed in Scotland during this time was made in clandestine stills.
In 1823 a more lenient tax law passed which brought many of the illegal distillers out of hiding and eventually created a boom for the Scotch whisky industry.
Over its long history, whisky has touched every corner of the globe. It has started and ended battles. People who share nothing in common have found a connection in a glass of whisky. Its deep complex flavor and warm sensation as it is swallowed has enchanted millions.
