History of Scotch Whisky

“To Friar John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae VIII bolls of malt.” — Exchequer Rolls 1494–95, vol x, p. 487.

Whisky has been produced in Scotland for hundreds of years. The Gaelic "usquebaugh", meaning "Water of Life", phonetically became "usky" and then "whisky" in English

According to the Scotch Whisky Association, no one knows exactly when the art of distilling was first practised in Scotland; it is known that the Ancient Celts practised distilling[citation needed], and that the liquid they produced — known as uisge beatha ("water of life") — evolved into Scotch Whisky.

The first taxes on whisky production were imposed in 1644, causing a rise in illicit whisky distilling in the country. Around 1780, there were about 8 legal distilleries and 400 illegal ones. In 1823, Parliament eased restrictions on licensed distilleries with the "Excise Act", while at the same time making it harder for the illegal stills to operate, thereby ushering in the modern era of Scotch production. Two events helped the increase of whisky's popularity: first, a new production process was introduced in 1831 called Coffey or Patent Still (see in section below); the whisky produced with this process was less intense and smoother. Second, the Phylloxera bug destroyed wine and cognac production in France in 1880.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_whisky

See Also: Florist, Florists, Flower