21/05/2022
Whether you are a top whiskey drinker or an experienced professional who wants to give your drink just the right taste, you can celebrate World Whiskey Day on May 21st. 🥃
There has long been a dispute over the origin of whiskey. It is widely acknowledged that it was of Celtic origin, but was it Scottish or Irish? Let's look at interesting facts about this strong drink.
Today, whiskey is the most expensive product on the market for strong drinks. In addition to being a high quality product, the British decided to distribute it worldwide.
Whiskey has been Scotland's national drink for centuries, but its production has long gone beyond national borders and even moved to other continents. Scotland, Ireland and the United States are the countries that have turned whiskey production into a real art. It was these three peoples who developed their own unique style of whiskey and gave it its own characteristics. As a rule, the taste of whiskey produced in other countries is always compared to the taste of Scotch, Irish or American. This strong but sophisticated alcoholic beverage is also produced in Canada, Japan, Australia, France and, more recently, even Russia.
Today it is difficult to say who and when first learned to get whiskey by distilling malt wort. Scotland and Ireland claim the right to be called the homeland of whiskey. Each country has its own version of the history of the drink, its own facts and its own heroes. The ruins of Lindore Abbey are on the outskirts of the small town of Newburgh, just north of Edinburgh. It is known as the birthplace of whiskey and can be traced back to 1494. This is the oldest evidence of distillation.
Distillation technology came to Scotland from the Middle East. The ancient Arabs had long been able to distill wine into strong alcohol, and the Crusaders and Christian missionaries took over the experience from them. The Scots borrowed the idea, adapting it to their own circumstances. The copper vessel, which externally resembled a kettle connected to a coil, was filled with must and ignited. The v***r in the coil turned into an alcoholic liquid which was collected in a container. This liquid was called "water of life" - uisge beatha (whiskey baa). Over time, uisge evolved into whiskey or whiskey - in this form the name of the drink has survived to the present day.
In the beginning, monks made whiskey only for medicinal purposes. By the way, the Scots are still fighting the cold with the help of a hot toddy - a drink containing Scotch. The whiskey not only warmed and dispersed the blood, but also cheered it up, which became a strong argument in favor of the drink.
At that time, whiskey was drunk immediately after distillation, it did not reach aging, so the Scottish taste was far from ideal. A series of English laws passed in the 16th and 18th centuries drove underground production, but actual whiskey production remained in line with growing demand. Significantly, the shadow distilleries produced a higher quality product than the large official distilleries. In 1822, underground distilleries were legalized, which contributed to the growth and popularity of whiskey.
