Whiskey - The Water of Life

Whisky, or whiskey, is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash that has been aged. It should come as no surprise that the word whiskey comes from the Gaelic uisge, a shortened version of uisge beatha meaning "water of life," also known as aqua vitae in Latin.

Distilling techniques were brought to Ireland and Scotland sometime between 1100 and 1300 by monks. Since wine was not easily obtained in Ireland and Scotland, barley beer was distilled into liquor, which became whiskey. The manufacturing of distilled spirits was limited to apothecaries and monasteries until the late 15th century. Whiskey was originally used as a medicine for both internal anesthetic use and as an external antibiotic.

The “e,” or lack thereof, in the word’s spelling is purely orthographical. Whisky is whiskey is whisky. Certain countries favor one spelling over the other—for example, Scotland and Canada always use “whisky,” while Ireland and the United States tend to favor “whiskey.”

You can read through this virtual whiskey guide to learn more about how whiskey is made and how it's described (it's type and location),

Information in this guide book comes from:

Whiskyadvocate.com

Thrillist.com

GLNC.org

Whisky-emporium.com