Whether you love to sip Scotch or mix bourbon sours for your friends, whiskey is a satisfying drink with a noted place in culture. How much do you really know about this pervasive spirit that comes in so many varieties? Read on to discover six interesting facts about whiskey.
1. Whiskey Was Invented Around 1000 AD
People have distilled food products to make alcohol for millennia. Distillation is thought to have been invented in Mesopotamia around 2000 BC, and written records of distillation date back to 100 AD in Greece. However, there are no records of grain being distilled until around 1000 AD in Scotland and Ireland.
It took a few hundred years for whiskey distillation to really take off, but by 1494, records indicate that distillation was fully underway in Scotland.
2. Whiskey Can Be Spelled Two Ways
Whiskey is the way you’re probably used to seeing the word spelled, as that is the standard spelling in the United States. Ireland also uses this spelling. However, if you buy Scottish whiskey, you may see the name spelled whisky as that is the standard spelling in Scotland. Japan and Canada also spell the word without an e.
Whisky is actually the original spelling, but American and Irish distillers adopted the alternative spelling, whiskey, to set their drink apart.
3. Whiskey Barrels Lose 2 Percent per Year
Whiskey is aged in barrels, and part of the aging process involves evaporation. The amount of whiskey you put in the barrel is not the amount you get out years later. About two percent of the volume evaporates though the barrel each year. This is known as the angel’s share. As more liquid evaporates from the whiskey, it becomes smoother, bolder, and more mature.
4. All Bourbon Is Whiskey, but Not all Whiskey Is Bourbon
The words bourbon and whiskey are sometimes used interchangeably in the U.S., but this improper use of terms ignores an important distinction.
Bourbon is a specific type of whiskey made from at least 51 percent corn, rye, malted barley, wheat, or malted rye. To be considered bourbon, it must also be aged in a charred oak barrel. In other words, all bourbon is whiskey, but there are also many other types of whiskey — like Irish whiskey and Scotch — which are quite different from bourbon.
5. Ireland Closely Regulates Its Whiskey
Just as whiskey has to meet certain qualifications to be sold as bourbon in the U.S., whiskey in Ireland must meet certain criteria to be sold as Irish whiskey. It must be distilled three times — many other whiskeys are distilled only once or twice.
It must also be aged, specifically in Ireland, in a wooden cask for three years. This process results in very smooth whiskey with fewer smoky notes than you’ll find in American and Scotch whiskey.
6. Moonshine Is Basically Unaged Whiskey
Many people think of moonshine as an alcoholic drink that’s made illegally in a bathtub or someone’s backyard. While some people do make illegal moonshine, legal moonshine is also sold in liquor stores. It is an unaged, distilled alcoholic beverage made from corn. If you were to age moonshine, it would transform into whiskey.
This legal moonshine is safe to drink, whereas illegal moonshine can be risky because it could contain methanol. Methanol is an alcohol that is produced during fermentation and that must be carefully separated from the ethanol to make the distilled drink safe.
Now that you know a little more about whiskey, it’s time to do some sampling. Order some Scotch, bourbon, Irish whiskey, and moonshine, and compare the flavors you find in each. Visit Holiday Wine Cellar to discover a great selection of whiskeys and other spirits.
