The Angels’ Share - A History of Whisky

By Catherine Rose

The Angels’ Share

A History of Whisky Whisky (or whiskey) is the tipple of connoisseurs. It is made from fermented grain mash distilled in either copper or Coffey (patent) stills, depending on the type of whisky being produced. Barley is normally used, although rye, wheat, and corn (the base of American bourbon) are also suitable. The grains can be malted for flavour by steeping them until they start to germinate and then drying them. This not only locks in enzymes helpful to the fermentation process but also brings out the grain sugar known as maltose, which gives malt whisky its characteristic caramel taste. After distilling, whisky is then traditionally aged in oak casks for a minimum of three years. The word whisky comes from the Gaelic for ‘water’ – uisce (Irish) or uisge (Scottish) (pronounced oosh keh). Short for ‘water of life’, this term originated from the Latin for alcohol – aqua vitae. But is it whisky or whiskey? Technically, both are correct. Whiskey is the spelling used by the Irish whereas in Scotland it is Scotch whisky, or simply Scotch – a term popular in the United States. There are three different types of whisky: malt whisky (which can be single or blended), grain whisky and blended whisky. The champagne of whiskies – single malt – comes from one distillery, while a blended malt will be the product of more than one. Grain whiskies are made using grains that have not been malted, while blended whiskies can be a mix of grain whiskies or of grain and malt. Blended whiskies tend to be the least expensive (and the brands you would probably use for a whisky mac). The earliest evidence of whisky distillation can be found in ancient Mesopotamia, where it was used not as a drink but as a base for making perfumes. There is subsequent evidence that the ancient Celts distilled whisky as a beverage. Northern Europe did not have the climate to grow grapes, so people who lived in these colder areas had to use more readily available sources to make alcohol. By the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Christian monks in Ireland and Scotland were distilling whisky, which they used as a health tonic. The first written record of whisky making was in 1494 when Friar John Cor “received eight bolls of malt to make aqua vitae”. This would have been enough to make around 1,500 bottles. During this time, whisky was not being left to age in casks as its primary use was as medicine, so it had not yet been discovered that ageing improved the flavour.

With the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII in 1541, banished monks set up their own distilleries which increased whisky’s consumption and popularity. The oldest surviving distillery is in Ireland - Old Bushmills Distillery - founded in 1608. Whisky became Scotland’s national drink after King James IV of Scotland was said to have visited Islay in 1493 to see distilling there. He popularised whisky drinking, and when Scotland was made a part of Great Britain in 1707 it quickly became synonymous with the alcoholic beverage. Whisky has also been at the heart of conflict. In 1725 England introduced a higher tax on malt, along with legislation that dictated the minimum size for a still. The Scots saw this as a direct attack on their heritage, which consisted mainly of cottage distilleries. There were bloody riots and as a consequence, it is estimated that nearly half of the whisky production across Scotland went underground after people refused to pay the tax. Across the North Channel, the old Irish ballad Whiskey in the Jar (made famous by Thin Lizzy in the 1970s) was originally about Irish Highwayman Patrick Fleming, who was hanged in 1650. Although a violent criminal, he became a folk hero for robbing and killing the English gentry after Oliver Cromwell’s invasion of Ireland. In 1823 the British Government was petitioned to

make whisky production both profitable and legal, so The Excise Act was passed and whisky smuggling, which had been rife for around 150 years, died out. The whisky market took off. Up until then, whisky had continued to be drunk fresh from the still, but now, thanks to increased storage and overseas shipping, it was discovered that whisky tasted better when left longer in the barrel. Seven years after The Excise Act was passed, Aenas Coffey invented a process to make blended whisky in higher volumes. This lighter drink proved so popular that widespread consumption grew. Along with the Coffey still came the art of the whisky blender – Johnnie Walker, a grocer from Kilmarnock, being one of the first. Today whisky has never been more popular. There are over a hundred working distilleries in Scotland. Stills on the Scottish island of Islay still use water from the peat-rich streams there to make their distinctive-tasting malt whiskies. And after a decline in Ireland there has been a recent resurgence in whisky making, with twenty-five distilleries operating in 2019 and a further twentyfour planned. And for those of you who don’t already know, ‘the angels’ share’ is the evocative term given to the amount of whisky lost through evaporation during distillation.