Whilst legend has it that grains were distilled in 13th century China, it is widely accepted, that Ireland was the birthplace of water of life made from barley.

The first tangible proof of spirit of barley is from the Scottish Exchequer Rolls of 1494 wherein “VIII bolls of malt to Friar John Cor wherewith to make aquavitae”.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s first such evidence comes from a 1556 Act of Parliament: “...graine in making of aqua vitae...”.

Regardless, the nomenclature is clearly Celtic; aqua vitae in Gaelic is uisge beatha, which became uisge and ultimately whisky. In both countries distillation developed through the Middle Ages and by the 17th century whisky drinking had become widespread. As a result Charles I saw an opportunity to raise a lot of money; in 1644 taxes were imposed on Scotch whisky and laws passed restricting the rights of distillation to the landed classes. In Ireland taxation began a few years later in 1661. Whilst this may have raised some money for the Exchequer it really gave rise to illicit distillation. Either distillers made false declarations and paralleled quietly on the side, or more commonly, they simply disappeared into the countryside with their stills.

Two hundred years later Scottish and Irish whiskies were aided by the arrival of the phylloxera outbreak in Europe, which temporarily removed brandy from the market. Demand for whisky rocketed with Irish whiskey outselling Scotch as the former used un-malted barley, thereby producing a more popular lighter spirit. Just as Irish whiskey was about to take the world by storm the Total Abstinence Movement—an Irish precursor of American Prohibition—took hold, forcing many small distillers out of business.

Scotland meanwhile began blending continuous-still grain whisky with pot-distilled malt whisky. Whilst the Irish continued with the slower and less economic pot distillation, Scotch whisky became more readily available for a better price, and therefore, began to dominate the world whisky market. Read more

Bourbon...

Blended Scotch Whisky...