WHISKEY

Whisky is a spirit made by distilling fermented grain and, in most cases, ageing it in wood. Yet those grains, the type of still, the barrel and even the place where it is made can produce wildly different results, from light and fruity to rich and spicy, sweet and smooth, or intensely smoky.

Here you’ll find everything from Scotch single malts and blends to Irish whiskey, American bourbon and rye, Japanese whisky and bottles from an ever-growing number of whisky-producing countries around the world. There really is a whisky for almost every palate.

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A SHORT HISTORY OF WHISKEY

Whisky begins with three simple things: grain, water and yeast. What happens next has produced centuries of history, fierce national pride and an extraordinary number of opinions about what should be in your glass.

The story begins in Ireland and Scotland, although exactly who got there first remains a matter of debate. Distillation itself travelled west from the ancient world through medieval Europe, where it was initially used by monks and apothecaries to produce medicinal spirits.

One of the earliest written references to whiskey in Scotland dates to 1494, when the Exchequer Rolls record malt being given to Friar John Cor to make aqua vitae — the “water of life.” The Gaelic uisge beatha would eventually give us the word whisky.

Early whiskey would have been very different from the spirit we know today. It was often drunk young, straight from the still, rather than matured for years in oak barrels.

Over the centuries, whiskey production developed on both sides of the Irish Sea. In Scotland, taxes and regulation pushed much of the industry underground, with illicit stills operating throughout the Highlands. The 1823 Excise Act helped bring legal distillation into the mainstream and laid the foundations for the Scotch whisky industry we recognise today.

Across the Atlantic, immigrants brought their distilling traditions with them to North America. Corn became the defining grain of bourbon, while rye whiskey developed its own distinctly spicy character. American whiskey would eventually become every bit as culturally significant as its Irish and Scottish cousins.

Whiskey’s fortunes have risen and fallen through wars, Prohibition, changing fashions and economic crises, but the spirit has proved remarkably resilient.

Today it is made around the world, from Scotland, Ireland and the United States to Japan, India, Australia and beyond.

One small spelling difference remains. Scotland, Canada and Japan generally make whisky, while Ireland and the United States usually make whiskey. Whatever you call it, there is an enormous world to discover.