Who really invented whisky: The Scots or the Irish?
Published January 14, 2021
Contents
The myth
The Scots invented whisky. Or sometimes that the Irish invented whiskey.
Who invented whisky?
No one knows for sure. The popular refrain is that “the Irish invented it, the Scots perfected it and the Americans ruined it”. Excluding the comment about the Americans, who produce a dizzying array of whiskies ranging from sublime to the truly horrendous, this may well be true. Sadly we will almost certainly never know who began the whisky making tradition.
We have evidence of fermentation, the process of breaking sugar down into alcohol, dating back 13,000 years to present day Israel. Our oldest beer recipe is found in a 3,900 year old poem, and the art of distillation, to create perfume, was recorded on Akkadian tablets dated to around 1,200 BC. So it’s likely it’s been going on for a while. If we want to peer any earlier in time to get some more concrete data points we’ll likely need to master a language or two after we build our time machine.
The first concrete evidence of whisky production was in Scotland
Alas the first evidence of whisky production dates back to only 1494. An entry in the royal Exchequer Rolls of King James VI (a record of taxation and government spending) reads “To Brother John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae VIII bolls of malt”. Whisky production certainly dates back before this point, the production of aqua vitae or ‘water of life’ is peppered throughout the historical record. The term refers to a range of different drinks, ranging from fortified wines to seasoned ‘aperitif’ flavoured or adulterated in such a way as to preclude the Scottish/Irish definition of whisky.
The first possible reference to whisky production was in Ireland
The first possible reference to whisky in Ireland is found in 1405 in The Annals of Clonmacnoise. which reports that “Chieftain of Moyntyreolas, died at Christmas by taking a surfeit of aqua vitae” unfortunately with no further information there is little agreement among academics as to whether this referred to whisky, brandy or another distillate.
A holy connection
The origins of whisky are not well-documented, but it is generally believed to have originated in the medieval monasteries of Ireland and Scotland. Over time, the technique of distillation spread to other parts of Europe, and whisky production became more widespread. It is not known who specifically invented whisky, as it likely developed over time through the efforts of many people.
The facts
It is entirely possible that whisky production began in Ireland and made its way to Scotland via Islay and Campbeltown, perhaps it is even probable, though the reverse may also be true. Scotland and Ireland both share the same intertwined fate, both suffering irreparable destruction of their history and culture at the hands of a powerful foe. Their historical accounts were largely oral rather than written, and so 1494 is the first instance that we know for certain refers to whisky, made with malted barley. Even then this is likely nothing like the spirit that we drink today, the cask certainly existed though it wasn’t comming from Spain, or from America and there was no legal requirement to age it first.
So, who first created whisky? We don’t know, and we may well never know. Anyone claiming otherwise is kindly requested to lend me their time machine as I’d like to grab a few bottles at pre-auction prices…