History Of Whisky
It is thought that St Patrick introduced distilling to Ireland in the fifth century AD using knowledge he acquired during his travels in Spain and France. The secrets were brought to Scotland by the Dalriadic Scots when they arrived in Kintyre around 500AD.
The Gaelic "usquebaugh" meaning "Water of Life" was originally made in monasteries, and mostly used for medicinal purposes, being prescribed for a wide range of conditions such as the preservation of health and for the relief of colic.
Many families had their own stills which were found near fresh water and barley supplies, distilling was common in the winter months making use of barley from the recent harvest. The equipment used was often primitive and the spirit produced was potent and sometimes harmful, the spirit was not aged but consumed immediately.
During the course of the 15th century improving still design contributed to an improvement in the quality of the spirits produced and the knowledge of distilling quickly spread to others.
The Scottish Parliament introduced the first taxes on malt near the end of the 17th century and following the Act of Union with England in 1707 taxes continued to rise forcing distillers underground. Stills were well hidden in the hills and efficient signalling systems were used to warn of the approach of excise officers.
A long and often violent struggle took place between the excise officers and the illicit distillers and smuggling became normal and accepted practice for the next 100 or so years. The Excise Act, 1823, was introduced to control the smuggling of illicit spirit and the first official licensed distilling industry was established. Distillers paid a licence fee of £10 and a set payment for each gallon of proof spirit produced and smuggling died out over the next 10 or 15years.
The Excise Act laid the foundations for the Scotch Whisky industry as we know it today and many of the present day distilleries stand on sites used by smugglers of old.
For a whisky to be labelled Scotch it has to be produced in Scotland. If it is to be called Scotch, it cannot be produced in England, Wales, Ireland, America or anywhere else. Excellent whiskies are made by similar methods in other countries, notably Japan, but they cannot be called Scotches.
A Single Malt Scotch Whisky is the product of one specific distillery and has not been mixed with whisky from any other distilleries. Although each whisky is unique, the malts produced in each region have some common characteristics which separate them from whiskies from other regions
These differences are the result of several factors as for example the use of different raw materials, climate variations and different production techniques.
Scotland is divided into six whisky-producing regions; Speyside, Lowlands, Highlands, Campbeltown, Islands and Islay. The greatest concentration of malt whisky distilleries can be found in the Speyside region of north-east Scotland.
In 1852 a twin column version of the patent still was introduced which allowed the simultaneous use of malted and unmalted barley together with other kinds of corn. When blended with spirit from a traditional still the blending trade was born and became an immediate success.
Scotch Whisky has gone from strength to strength. It has survived wars and revolutions, economic depressions and recessions, and today it is the international spirit of choice, extending to more than 200 countries throughout the world.