The Water of Life
From the land of the Brave

Whisky is one of the few Scottish products immediately identified simply by name. Whisky is Scottish, 'Scotch' is whisky, whiskey (note the 'e') is Irish, American whiskey is called Bourbon and rye is Canadian whiskey.

It is a fact that no other country in the world has ever been able to manufacture anything remotely resembling Scottish whisky, far less Highland whisky, and no country ever will.

Highland whisky, like christianity, was imported from Ireland in around the 6th or 7th century. However there is evidence that a distilling tradition goes back even farther than that. Indeed, on the island of Rum, in 1986 archaeologists discovered spores and pollen which suggest that about 6,000 years ago people were active in producing an 'alcoholic' spirit. By around 1500AD whisky was an established and popular drink. James IV is said to have been fond of a we dram, so fond in fact that around the same time the Barbers and Surgeons (forerunners of our modern doctors) of Edinburgh were given the right to make, and sell Aqua Vitae, or Usqua.

Whisky in Gaelic means the 'water of life'. The proper Gaelic name for the drink is Uisgebeatha, which itself is often shortened to Usqua or Usky.

As time went on the popularity of the drink was such that something of a tradition between whisky manufacturers and government became established. Tax. The first tax on whisky was imposed by the Scots Parliament in 1644, at that time most distilling was carried out in the Highland countryside in private stills on a small scale. Households were permitted to make the famous drink too - but not to sell it, for that was a crime. Illicit stills became common in the Highlands and successive governments fought to bring the whole clandestine industry under control. Right up until the beginning of the 19th century small stills, hidden away in quiet corners, were commonplace.

Nowadays it is a crime in Scotland to distill spirits, never mind to sell your own brand, so the tradition of having one's own still has died out. It is definitely a fact that there are no private stills left in Scotland.

The tradition is so forgotten that it is entirely a fiction of my own imagination that a friend and his father, who might have had a still in their garden shed, were lucky to escape uninjured when the thing blew up when it was supposed to be simply bubbling away, it didn't happen in 1986 either.

Whisky became popular throughout the world when a market was created after the phylloxera epidemic affected most of the European vineyards. Consequently production of Brandy and wines decreased. In short, whisky was required and an enterprising Scots nation took it upon themselves to increase production and consistency of the national drink. Blends became popular and real quality was introduced by blending different types of whisky, such as malt and grain, together.

Now, I'm not going to tell you how to make it!

Malt whisky is made from an extract of malted barley which has been fermented by yeast and distilled in onion shaped copper pot-stills in which the alcohol is driven off by heat. Firstly though the barley has to be soaked in water. It is then malted by spreading the barley out on the floor of the malting house while malt is added. Then a process of drying and firing takes place in a kiln driven by heat from peat fired furnaces. After drying the malt is ground into grist and mixed with water in a mash tun. After about 8 hours the wort is is fermented in in large wooden wash-backs after which yeast is added and further process, about 40 hours, of fermentation takes place. The result should be a mixture called wash which consists of water, yeast and about 7% alcohol by volume.

The wash is then distilled in the pot-still and the alcohol separated by heat. This fairly crude spirit needs to be allowed time to mature, usually in wooden casks, for a fairly lengthy period of time to produce a drinkable whisky. The traditional wooden cask, usually made of oak, is normally filled with sherry to stain the wood. The colourless whisky is then placed in the cask and allowed to mature at leisure. Some mature malts are left for up to 40 years although 8 to 15 years is more common.

After maturing the whisky emerges with its characteristic golden colour and unmistakable flavour. It is then bottled.

Unlike wine whisky does not alter in the bottle, what you drink is just what left the oak cask. Although between 90 and 100 single malts are bottled and sold for drinking most are now used for blending, often with a grain whisky.

So to make a fine whisky you need several ingredients. Peat, which is common in Scotland and Ireland, to produce heat - it would be unthinkable to use coal or some other form of heating - as the peat imparts something to the final flavour. Water, which in Scotland is very pure, fresh and, in the Highlands, slightly acidic due to the peat. Malt and Barley, the quality of which must be of the highest standard. Finally, you need skill and preferably years and years of experience.

Making whisky is not so much a science as a art. Knowing when to start or stop the various processes involved in producing whisky is something of a feeling of the time being right.

Scottish whisky manufacturers take the quality of every single ingredient and aspect of their craft to unbelievable extremes. For example the malt whisky Glenmorangie, which incidentally is probably the most popular malt sold, is a good example.

Glenmorangie is only made in one distillery in Tain on the east coast of Scotland - so don't ask for a franchise to make and bottle it in your own country. In order to ensure the quality of the water used in the making of the malt, Glenmorangie bought all the fields surrounding the water source they use so that there could be no chance of fertilizers or chemicals contaminating the water and every single day someone walks along the entire length of the stream to make sure nothing has gone wrong overnight. They collect all the peat used for firing themselves and grow their own Barley. In short they control every aspect of production right at the source. Small wonder that it is the most popular malt whisky.

So if you're out for an evening with friends and family and you ask for a whisky, don't accept it unless it comes from Scotland. That way you can be sure to have sampled the water of life from the land which William Wallace - Robert the Bruce - The Jacobites - The Clans - and about every man woman and child fought to try and keep free.

In truth it'll be a little piece of Scotland.

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