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Calendar

If the first record of whisky production began at midnight on January 1st 2023 and today (September 17, 2023) is midnight on December 31st. Thus every day on the whisky calendar represents 525 days.

Events

1 June 1495: The first record of distillation is found at Lindores Abbey Scotland 'To Brother John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae VIII bolls of malt'

https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/letters/whisky-s-heroes-1-3124687

1559: Lindores Abbey was sacked by John Knox and his supporters in 1559

1784: Bushmills distillery is founded

https://whiskipedia.com/distilleries/bushmills

1536: Between 1536-1541 King Henry VIII of England began dissolving the monasteries

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Dissolution-of-the-Monasteries/

1791: A new excise was introduced to help fund debt from the American Revolutionary War. Dubbed the whisky tax it led to the whiskey rebellion.

1794: The Whiskey rebellion was an uprising of farmers and distillers in western Pennsylvania in protest of a whiskey tax

1820: Johnnie Walker started blending his whiskies

1823: Excise Act and Licencing Fees legalises whisky distillation

1824: Glenlivit distillery is legally established

5 December 1898: The Pattison Whisky Crash cripples whisky production closing distilleries

https://foodanddrink.scotsman.com/drink/pattison-bros-men-nearly-brought-scotch-whisky-industry/

1915: The UK Immature Spirits Act 1915 requires that whisky must be matured in oak casks for a minimum of three years

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-35790275

28 October 1919: The US Volstead Act was enacted with prohibition takeng effect from 1920-1933

https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/volstead-act

1825: Kennetpans distillery closed down

https://www.kennetpans.info/

5 February 1831: Irish inventor Aeneas Coffey patented the Coffey still

26 June 1822: The first continuous still was patented by Sir Anthony Perrier in 1822

https://www.capeofstormsdistillery.com/blog/2019/9/29/column-distillation

4 May 1964: US Congress declares bourbon whiskey America's official distilled spirit

1 June 1675: Robert Boyle describes his new hydrometer

https://thewhiskeywash.com/lifestyle/show-proof-proof-system-came/

1826: First patent for a continuous still awarded to Robert Stein.

28 June 1988: The UK Scotch Whisky Act 'to make provision as to the definition of Scotch whisky and as to the production and sale of whisky; and for connected purposes' is enacted

23 December 2009: Scotch Whisky Regulations are enacted covering the production, labelling, advertising and packaging of Scotch whisky

28 June 1933: The first legal definition of Scotch in UK law was secured in the 1933 Finance Act

1885: Alfred Barnard began his legendary tour of the distilleries of the united kingdom

https://whiskipedia.com/distilleries/barnard

1870: The phylloxera beetle devestates French brandy production

http://www.tenzingws.com/blog/2015/5/26/maps-of-the-spread-of-phylloxera-in-19th-century

3 October 1912: Wine & Sprit Brand Association is founded, the forerunner of the Scotch Whisky Association renamed in 1942.

1935: Federal Alcohol Administration Act requires all Bourbon use new Barrels

https://thewhiskeywash.com/whiskey-styles/bourbon/bourbon-barrels-why-exactly-must-they-be-new/

1986: From 1986 all Sherry has to be bottled in the Jerez region cutting off the supply of Sherry shipping casks

https://www.whiskynotes.be/sherry-casks-in-the-whisky-industry.pdf

2001: The glencairn whisky glass enters production

https://www.sipdark.com/blogs/sipdark-blog/understanding-the-history-of-whiskey-drinking-glasses

1608: Bushmills distillery claims the first whisky is produced in the area of the current distillery