Dennis' Whiskey Corner

Serving Information and Reviews to the Curious Drinker Since 1997.

Whis'key, also Whis'ky, n. [Ir. or Gael. uisge water (perhaps akin to E. wash, water) in uisgebeatha whiskey, properly, water of life. Cf. Usquebaugh.]

An intoxicating liquor distilled from grain, potatoes, etc., especially in Scotland, Ireland, and the United States.  In the United States, whisky is generally distilled from maize, rye, or wheat, but in Scotland and Ireland it is often made from malted barley.  Bourbon whisky, corn whisky made in Bourbon County, Kentucky.*

This account of the birth of whiskey may be based more on legend than fact, but it as probable as any other.  Historical documentation of uisgebeatha as a drink distilled from barley only spans the past 400 or so years, and certainly the taste of the original whiskeys would be unrecognizable to today's die-hard Jameson or Laphroaig drinkers.  Whatever its origin, whiskey developed simultaneously in Ireland and Scotland, while the English were incomprehensibly happy making Gin.  However the English made perhaps the greatest contribution to the development of whiskey:  the Scottish and Irish diasporas.  English rule over Ireland and Scotland became so distasteful that emigrants flooded the New World, bringing little but their experiences, which thankfully included knowledge of whiskey production.  Besides Canada and the United States, I do not know of any other countries with proud whiskey traditions, although it seems to me that the colonists of New Zealand and Australia would have craved a drop of home.  The Japanese have entered the whiskey market, at least domestically, since the 1980s.  One reader wrote that the Japanese whiskey he tried was pleasant enough, but he had not compared it to traditional whiskeys.

Indeed it is a strange whiskey world:  Japanese making Scotch; Irish Distillers owned by the French; Canadian whiskies owned by American companies; and the huge Scotch conglomerate, United Distillers, owned by the Irish Guinness Brewing Company.  Only one American distiller is independently owned.  Things have changed since the days of families of Gaels or Pennsylvania settlers made their own Water of Life, legally that is.  Homemade, untaxed, whiskey is as old as the still, and perhaps just as common as ever.  Not that I have ever tried any.

Grain whiskeys can either be made from plain grain, from germinated grain (malt), or from a combination of both.  The grain and malt can be fermented together, or can be distilled and aged apart and blended later.  American whiskey made from corn, usually labeled Bourbon, is noticeably sweeter than other whiskeys.  Like all the jolly good fellows, I drink my whiskey clear as I like to call it, but neat is the typical expression for whiskey without water or ice added.  Irish whiskey is usually the variety that I drink clear.  My favorite mixed whiskey drinks are the highball: straight rye whiskey and ginger ale on ice (spring/summer); and the Manhattan:  chilled rye whiskey, Italian vermouth, angostura bitters, and a maraschino cherry (autumn/winter).  I sometimes substitute Bourbon for rye.

Varieties

Please note that I am usually working new or modified reviews for many featured whiskeys

• Irish   Barley whiskey mostly from the Emerald Isle.
• Rye   The original American whiskey, often confused with Canadian whisky.
• Corn   A family of whiskeys including Bourbon and Tennessee.
• Scotch   Peated barley whiskey usually from beyond Hadrian's frontier.

Poetry

For more information try Malt Advocate: The Whisk(e)y Pages.
And a site called The Whisky Portal.
And an article called Beyond Beer.