Whiskey

Where it started

The word comes from the Gaelic uisge beatha, "water of life."³ The earliest documented record of distilling in Scotland is from 1494, in the Exchequer Rolls, an entry for eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor to make aqua vitae.⁴ Ireland's own technical file describes the spirit as distilled since the 6th century and one of the oldest spirit drinks in Europe.⁵

In the United States, the first federal excise tax on a domestic product landed on spirits in 1791, which set off the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794.⁶ The next big jump was Aeneas Coffey's patent still, dated 1831 by the Scotch Whisky Association⁴ and 1830 by Ireland's technical file;⁵ it allowed continuous distillation and light grain whisky, the foundation of blended Scotch.⁴ Consumer protection came in 1897 with the Bottled-in-Bond Act, often credited as the first consumer protection act in U.S. history.⁶ Modern definitions followed: the first definition of Scotch in UK law by 1933, a Scotch Whisky Act in 1988 and the Scotch Whisky Regulations in 2009.⁴

Where and how it's made

Under U.S. federal rules, whisky is a distillate from a fermented mash of any grain, distilled at less than 95 percent alcohol by volume (190 proof), stored in oak barrels (corn whisky excepted) and bottled at not less than 40 percent alcohol by volume (80 proof).¹ Scotch, Irish and Japanese rules all land on the same 40 percent floor and a three-year minimum in wood, but each sets its own cask, grain and geography rules.⁸⁵⁹

The process is the same everywhere. Grain is milled and cooked into a mash. Malted barley (or added enzymes) converts starch to sugar. Yeast ferments the sugar into a low-alcohol "distiller's beer."⁷ That beer goes through a pot still, which works in batches, or a column still, which runs continuously,⁷ and the distiller keeps the "hearts" and discards the heads and tails.⁷ The clear spirit, called white dog or new make, goes into oak.⁷ Time, temperature swings and the barrel's char do the rest, and a share evaporates every year, the "angel's share."⁷

Label math: U.S. labels must state alcohol as a percentage by volume and may add proof.² Proof runs on a scale of 200, so 100 proof is 50 percent alcohol.⁷ Spelling is not a rule. "The word whisky may be spelled as either 'whisky' or 'whiskey'."¹ American whiskey usually takes the e; English, Welsh, Japanese and most other world whiskies do not.³

How to taste it

Use a glass that narrows at the top (a Glencairn or a small wine glass) so the aromas collect. Look at the color, then nose it with your mouth slightly open so the alcohol does not sting. Take a small sip and let it coat your tongue before you decide anything. In Scotland, people often add just a little water; try a few drops and see what changes.³ For food, keep it simple: a hard aged cheese with bourbon, smoked almonds or oysters with a peated malt, dark chocolate with a sherried Speyside.