History of Whisky
The term ‘whisky’ comes originally from the Gaelic ‘uisge beatha,’ or ‘usquebaugh,’ meaning ‘water of life’ in Latin. Gaelic is that branch of Celtic spoken in the Highlands of Scotland. Unlike beer or wine, whisky hasn’t had a story for centuries; it sure does make a milestone in our lives.
We believe that alembic, used for distilling alcohol, came first in the X-X11 Centuries, then to Ireland and Scotland by priests. At the beginning of the 14th century, a family from Ireland, the Doctors of the Macbeth, came to Scotland. They only used whisky as a medicine for the Kings of Scotland and Island Lords.
In historical records, the name of whiskey was first mentioned in Scotch Tax Records in 1494. A priest named John Corr wrote down 508 kg of barley to make whiskey as funeral expenses.
In the 16th century, colonists from Ireland and Scotland who came to America used another grain, corn, to make whiskies. This is when we know the starting time of whisky history on this continent.
Because of the Filoksera pandemic in 1875- 1889, all those grapes were destroyed, and that was the time for the whisky industry to shine. Since wine and cognac owners could not send their products, a popular time for people who wanted to enjoy whisky was a po.
Until the mid-1800, the pot-distilled whisky from barley, but copper alembic was transferred to another form. After Aeneas Coffey invented continua alembic, they produced more from different grains. Since they could make more, they mixed with the malt whiskies, and in 1853, Usher was using Glenlivet’s only single malt to make the first successful Blended Scotch in history. After that, the Walker family, the John & James Chivas Brothers, and George Ballantine were wise enough to see the future of blended scotch in marketing the world.
We need to wait for The Glenlivet Distillery to market in America in 1930 and for the Glenfiddich Distillery to sell worldwide to have a growing alcoholic beverages market.
The 20th century was when whisky was exported to the whole world. We now see whisky production from India to Germany, South Africa to Finlandia, and so many countries.
Until 2009, we have been producing Ankara Whisky in Turkey. Since it is closed now, we have some stories to share.
