Rosemary’s Thoughts

It is claimed that the practice of distilling was discovered somewhere in Asia in around 800 B.C. The belief was that the method was merely utilized for making perfumes, though that theory has been overturned. The method through which the processes found its way to Britain is uncertain – however it is known that the Moors carried the practice of distilling to Europe. It’s considered that the practice was subsequently perfected within monasteries throughout central Europe. Apparently the patron saint of Ireland, otherwise known as St. Patrick, brought the trade into the monasteries in 432 AD for a Christian mission. Nonetheless, the Celts did learn the secret eventually and created their water of life which in the Gaelic language is called “Uisge Beatha”. This simple though not widely-known title is how the scotch whiskey became, as Uisage means whiskey.

The milestone time for whiskey in history is probably 1494 as a Sir Friar John Cor from Scotland ordered eight bolls of malt. It was reportedly to be employed for aqua vitae being the initial accountable proof of creation of whiskey within Scotland.

The craft of distilling quickly left the monasteries for the farms where just about every person was creating whiskey up until about 1820 which was the time that the national government decided they were going to disable individual and private stills rendering them against the law.

It was not until the eighteenth century that it was discovered that with excessive aging came a mellower brew. The findings of the aging procedure was basically tripped upon when an old cask long forgotten was discovered full the best whiskey ever tasted.

The union of the 2 parliaments on of them from England and the other hailing from Scotland in the year 1707 is what drew into effect the Union Act. Realizing that this would do well for either side, they created an unheard of scheme for creating the malt.

By the year 1725 the English malt taxation act was forged, however not without bloodshed. At this time every second bottle of malt distilled in Scotland was of the illegal kind due to roving excise men, illicit distilleries, and the fashion of smuggling.

In the 1820’s much trouble arose in the form of crime and tough taxing policies which eventually became completely unmanageable. To solve this problem, the government put in place the Excise Act which permitted the government to track which distilleries were legal and those which were not by using labels.

Whisky started out as a product for the British market in the 1820s, though now it has turned into a beverage which is enjoyed throughout the globe. A lot of the amazing development is the result of the introduction of blended whiskey and even today approximately ninety percent of all whiskey produced in Scotland is blended. All the same, the interest of single malt whiskey has increased recently and that evolution will probably carry on.