What is whisky?
Whisky is a distilled alcoholic spirit produced from a fermented mash of cereal grains — most commonly barley, but also rye, maize and wheat — and matured in oak casks. The word derives from the Gaelic uisge beatha, meaning the water of life, itself a translation of the medieval Latin aqua vitae.
Its production is governed by an unusually detailed body of law and tradition. Scotch whisky, for example, must be produced in Scotland and matured for a minimum of three years in oak casks. Bourbon must be produced in the United States from a mash of at least fifty-one per cent maize and matured in new, charred American oak. These definitions are the guardians of two very different traditions.
The distinction between "whisky" and "whiskey"
The two spellings are not interchangeable. Scotland and Japan spell the word whisky. Ireland and, generally, the United States spell it whiskey. The distinction dates from the nineteenth century and is preserved as a mark of regional identity. Both are correct within their traditions, and both are used in this publication where the context requires.
The two spellings — whisky and whiskey — are not typographical variants. They are the visible mark of two distinct national traditions.
The major whisky-producing nations
Scotland, Ireland, the United States, Canada and Japan constitute the five traditional producing nations. Each has developed its own definitions, its own preferred grains, its own cask conventions and its own long-standing distilling houses. In the last two decades a new generation of producers in India, Taiwan, Australia, Scandinavia and, increasingly, in England and Wales, has added significantly to the international map.
Whisky's cultural significance in Britain and beyond
In the United Kingdom whisky occupies a peculiar cultural position. It is at once an industrial export of great economic importance, a cornerstone of Scottish and Northern Irish national identity, and a subject of scholarly and journalistic writing of a serious kind. The great distilleries of Speyside and Islay are today visited by hundreds of thousands of educational visitors each year.
The role of geography in character
Perhaps more than any other spirit, whisky is a product of place. Water, climate, grain and the character of local oak all contribute to the finished character of a mature whisky. The maritime peat of Islay, the soft granite water of Speyside, the tropical warehouses of Kavalan in Taiwan and the sharp Kentucky winters each leave a distinct signature. A great whisky is, in the end, a document of its own geography.