Whiskey 101 :: All You Need to Know (And More)

Last month, I asked my editor if I could write a feature on whiskey. I thought I would sample a few bottles, bang out a quick page or two and call it a day. Two things fueled my whiskey arrogance:

1. I've enjoyed whiskey since I was knee high to a barstool.

2. My drink of choice has always been Jack Daniels with ginger ale on the rocks with a twist.

But I was in over my head--here is all I had to learn (and more).

What the #%$ is Whiskey?

Whiskey is an alcoholic beverage that has been distilled from a fermented mash of either barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat or corn using fresh, untainted water (from a natural source) in pot stills and aged in wood casks. All of this may sound simple but the process takes on various twists and turns to produce a variety of characteristics that are infused with the specific geography and genealogy of the makers.

Whiskey has been around longer than the Rolling Stones, though its actual conception date is in debate. Some historians clam that Saint Patrick (AD 389 to AD 461) introduced whiskey making to the Irish. Other Irish historians say that Saint Columba (AD 521 to AD 597) gave the Irish their first samples of whiskey. One of the few officially recorded references to whiskey comes from King Henry II of England. He visited (and by "visited" I mean invaded and annexed it to his Angevin Empire) Ireland in 1174 and made mention Irish whiskey.

The Irish and the Scots have been debating this point for hundreds of years and I can't confirm one date over the other. One point of fact that I can confirm is this: Northern Irish historians lay claim to the first licensed distillery. This mecca is a village called Bushmills, located in County Antrim. If the name Bushmills sounds familiar, consider yourself fortunate. They have been making excellent whisky since the reign of King James I, who granted them the first license to distill in 1608.

Aside from that, the Scots have the earliest record for an unlicensed distillery. This information comes from the Exchequer Rolls, circa 1494. The entry mentions a Friar named John Cor and how he acquired the ingredients to make 1500 bottles of whisky. If you think about it, anyone ready, willing and able to make that much whisky must have had a well-established and fully operational distillery. No matter which historical reference you adhere to, you have to be thankful that somebody somewhere had the intelligence to create whisky--or is it whiskey?

To "e" or not to "e..."

The term "whisky" has two distinct spellings with diverse meanings and cultural backgrounds. "Whisky" comes from the Gaelic "uisge/uisce beatha" meaning, "water of life." "Water of life," seems the best way to describe a liquid that can hit your taste buds with the force of a runaway train wrapped in cotton, force you to forget your commitments, and make Dan Brown sound as distinguished as Tom Wolfe.

Beyond the Gaelic origins of the word are the more modern spellings. This is where the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms gets involved. Way back in 1968, the ATF put forth a directive that specifies "whisky" as the official U.S. spelling. But later the ATF decided to make the issue as confused as a dyslexic fifth grader at a college spelling bee by allowing people who bottle and distribute whisky to use the more modern spelling of "whiskey" on the labels. This was a clear attempt to stick their collective noses up at tradition. In essence, the ATF decided to lay down the law but not stick by the letter of it. For example, Maker's Mark (distilled in Loretto, Kentucky) labels itself as Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky, but Jack Daniels (distilled in Lynchburg, Tennessee) labels itself as Quality Tennessee Whiskey (as do most other American whiskeys).

In an effort to end any confusion, I go by this simple rule of thumb--Whiskey spelt with an "e" is made in either America or in Ireland. Whisky spelt without an "e" is made in Scotland, Wales, Canada, Japan, and so on.

Follow the Whiskey Trail

Most people drink whiskey to get drunk (Sad to say, I was one of those people), without the proper knowledge of or respect for this distilled ambrosia. But Whiskey culture is not about getting snockered; it is about tradition, cultural pride, and an oath to excellence that has been passed down from generation to generation. Experts follow Whiskey Trails both here and abroad like the apostles followed Christ. They are totally devoted to learning all that they can about whiskey.

What's a Whiskey Trail you ask? Consider it an educational field trip for people who want to know the part Whisky played in U.S. and world history. (Think Schoolhouse Rock on the rocks). The Trail follows the Whiskey Rebellion all the way to Prohibition and into contemporary times. One of the key points on this trail is President George Washington's Distillery at Mount Vernon. Our founding father was more than a battlefield strategist; he was an entrepreneur and distiller of whiskey. The U.S. Whiskey Trail covers a wide range of historically significant locales including The Woodville Plantation in Bridgeville, PA, The Oscar Goetz Museum of Whiskey History in Bardstown, KY, and The Oliver Miller Homestead in South Park, PA.

For more information and travel details check out:
http://www.discus.org/trail/

That's it for Whisky 101, but stay tuned for your next crash course soon to come on EDGE: Whiskey 102 :: A World of Whiskey.