In the far northeast end of Ireland, from County Antrim, if you look out just 12 miles across the North Channel of the Irish Sea, you will see the Scottish headland known as the Mull of Kintyre. On a clear day the misty craggy cliffs of the Mull can be seen rising, almost beckoning one to cross the water. I know. I’ve been there. I’ve looked out across the channel and wanted cross over to Scotland, but, I have yet to go there.
I’m not the first to long for that crossing. Even before the channel was covered in water, there was a land bridge; archaeologists tell us that the first human beings, hunter-gatherers to arrive in Ireland crossed over on foot near the end of the last ice age, around 10,000 BCE. When the Celts arrived in Ireland in the 6th Century BCE, they called the original inhabitants the Fir Bolg, sometimes called the ‘Dark Men.’ It is believed that the Fir Bolg assimilated with the Celts, probably not of their own volition but through violence and subjugation, and their legends and culture were adopted and morphed into the Celtic mythology. According to legend, the Túatha Dé Danann, translated to ‘the people of the gods,’ came from the North, presumably crossing over from Scotland, and gave the Fir Bolg a home in Ireland. The connection between Ireland and Scotland from the beginning of history has, literally, been legendary.
In the 5th Century CE, an Irish tribe of Celts called the Dál Riata, crossed the North Channel from Antrim and expanded their territory into the Mull of Kintyre and the Argyll regions of Scotland. Before the Dál Riata arrived in Caledonia (what the Romans called the land that would one day be called Scotland), according to Roman historians in Britannia, the only people living there were the Picts, another group of Celtic tribes that had migrated into Scotland from England. The Picts were so troublesome for the Romans that they built two walls, Hadrian’s Wall in the 120’s CE and the Antonine Wall in the 140’s CE in an attempt to keep the Picts out. But the Roman army left Britannia in the 400’s, leaving a power vacuum; the Picts expanded into northern England, the Angles and Saxons invaded Essex and East Anglia, and the Dál Riata expanded into western Scotland. Within 100 years the Dál Riata held three times more territory in the west of Scotland as they did in the north of Ireland.
The exchange of culture and trade across the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland was solidified for the next Millennia, interrupted only briefly by the Viking invasions of the 8th and 9th Centuries. Clans like the MacFergus (i.e. Ferguson), MacDonald, McConnell, McKay, Campbell, Kerr, MacGovern, MacAdoo, Murdock, MacAlpin, MacAngus, MacConnahey, Costigan, among others, intermarried, fought together and against each other, some had land holdings in both Ireland and Scotland. They shared the same early Christian beliefs, most of which had been spread through the establishment of monasteries by Irish St. Columba of Donegal. They traded goods and ideas. One of which was whiskey.
Lands held by Dál Riata circa 5th - 6th Century CE
It was Christianity that brought whisky to Europe. Irish monks in the mid First Millennia AD, about the same time as the Dál Riata were expanding into Scotland, these monks brought the art of distillation to Ireland from the Near East. Alembic stills were brought to the monasteries of Ireland and Scotland and used for distilling medicinal and aromatic therapies. At some point in time, some of the monks had the brilliant idea of distilling ale, which separated the alcohol in the ale from water, that is the ‘Spirit’ of the drink. The monks called these earliest distilled spirits Aqua Vitae, Latin for “The Water of Life,” but in the local vernacular, the Gaelic language, ‘Water of Life’ translated to Uisce Beatha, which over time was shortened to Uisce, and later was Anglicized by the English speakers to “Whisky.”
Now whisky, whether it is from Ireland and spelled Whiskey, or from Scotland and spelled Whisky, was in the Medieval period regardless of where it was made, basically the same thing; water, malted barley, yeast to make the mash, and then it would be distilled. This art of distilling seems to have spread through both Ireland and Scotland around the same period, which would make sense, since the monks of various monasteries across the region would have shared recipes and techniques regarding whisky production. The two earliest written references we have of whisky being made are both from the 15th Century, and one is from Ireland and the other was from Scotland. In Ireland, in The Annals of Clonmacnoise, it was described how a head of one of the clans died at the monastery after drinking an excessive amount of aqua vitae. In Scotland, King James IV granted a large amount of malt to one Friar John Cor specifically for the making of aqua vitae for the Scottish court. And while this is the first written word regarding whisky production in Scotland, undoubtedly the spirit had been being distilled for many decades, if not centuries, prior to the written documentation, since we know that the monks had knowledge of distillation going back a thousand years earlier. My guess is that they had been distilling ale for a long time, they just hadn’t let the word out to the rest of the world. Maybe they wanted to keep it all to themselves.
In the medieval period there were no laws in Scotland regarding exactly how spirits had to be produced to be called whisky. But, today, according to the Scottish Whisky Regulations of 2009, whisky in Scotland must meet certain requirements to be called Scotch. It has to be produced from a licensed distillery in Scotland, and that includes mashed, washed, fermented, and distilled on the grounds of the named distillery. The spirit must be twice distilled. It must be fully matured in a licensed warehouse in Scotland in Oak casks of no larger than 700 litres volume (that is 185 US Gallons) for a minimum of 3 years and 1 day. It may contain no other ingredients except water and plain unflavored caramel coloring (though only the cheapest of blended whiskies would ever add coloring), and it cannot be less than 40% Alcohol by volume (that is, 80 proof).
There are really only two types of Scotch whiskies, but these two types are used to make four varieties. The most well known type is Single Malt Scotch. Single malt must be produced from a single distillery using only water and malted barley by batch distillation in single pot copper stills. The other type of whisky is Single Grain Scotch, which is also produced at a single distillery, but along with water and malted barley, it may include grain whisky made from another type of unmalted grain (that is corn, or rye, or wheat) or perhaps malt from one of these grains. The word single in either of these types denotes that came it came from a single distillery, not a single type of grain. Now, from Single Malt and Single Grain whiskies, the four varieties of whisky are made: Of course, Single Malt Scotch. Then it gets confusing to the layman, so follow me here.
There is Blended Malt Scotch Whisky, which is a blend of two of more Single Malt whiskies from two or more different distilleries. Then there is Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, which is a blend of two of more single grain whiskies from two or more different distilleries. And then there is Blended Scotch Whisky which is a blend of one or more single malt Scotch whiskies with one or more single grain Scotch whiskies. Blended Scotch accounts for 90% of the whisky produced in Scotland; all the well known brands, Dewer’s, Johnny Walker, J&B, Cutty Sark, Famous Grouse, Chivas Regal, Bells, Ballentine’s, Grant’s, Teacher’s, and so forth.
Now besides types and varieties of Scotch, there are five regional areas of Scotch distilling.
Lowland Scotch comes from southern Scotland, basically the area south of a line drawn from Glasgow to Edinburgh to the English border. There are currently only five distilleries in the Lowland region.
The Speyside has the most distilleries, 103 is the most recent account. Speyside gets its name from the River Spey that flows through the region west of Inverness and the area is centered around the town of Elgin. It is said that the water from the Spey is exceptionally well suited to Scotch distilling, and some of Scotland’s most famous Single Malts hail from this region, including Balvenie, Cardhu, Glenfiddich, The Glenlivet, and The Macallan.
The Highlands are the largest region by far, and include the sub region that includes the islands of Skye, the Hebrides, and Orkneys. Famous Highland Distilleries include Dalmore, Glendronach, Oban, Glenmorangie, Highland Park, and Taliskar.
Campbelltown is the smallest region, which is centered around the community of the same name on the Mull of Kintyre. At one time there were 34 distilleries in the area, now there are only three; Glen Scotia, Glengyle, and Spring Bank.
The last area, Islay, an island just west of the Mull of Kintyre and north of Ireland, is probably best known for the smokiness of the malt whiskies they produce. My favorites from this region are Caol Ila, Lagavulin, and Laphroaig.
Whisky Distilling Regions of Scotland
All of the regions produce somewhat different styles of Scotch; Lowland whiskies tend to be soft and light, with grassy notes with subtle tastes and delicate aromas. Speyside whiskies are known for sweet fruity character. Highland whiskies go from very dry to sweet; lots of variations, just like the landscape of the Highlands itself. Islay whiskies are dry, salty, and very smoky.
Since all whiskies, wherever they are made, are basically the same ingredients; malted and unmalted grain, water and yeast, what makes Scotch… Scotch? Three things make Scotch unique, or which Scotch shares 2 with most other whiskies; First, there is Copper pot stills, which are built in such a manner that as the vapors rise those that are not as light condense at the top of the still and drop back into the wash to be distilled again. Secondly, cooperage and the aging of the whisky in Oak barrels, most of which have been previously used in the aging of American Bourbon, Sherry, Port, Madiera, or Bordeaux and then recharred to bring out the hidden flavors in the wood. Irish whiskey distillers use previously used barrels, however most American whiskey and bourbon distillers use new charred barrels.
Copper Pot Stills at The Glenmorangie Distillery, Ross-shire, The Highlands
But the thing that makes Scotch unique is how the malt is dried over an open peat fire. Peat is partially decayed vegetation or organic matter that is unique to natural areas called bogs, which are found all over Scotland. Peat is harvested by cutting it from the ground and then allowed to dry after which it can be burned. It was an important fuel source for many populations for thousands of years, including the Scots and Irish back during the formative years of whisky development. Malted barley is barley that has been steeped in warm water, begins to germinate, which converts the starch in the grains into sugar, then the germination is stopped by drying the barley with heat. Malt for Scotch is dried, in varying degrees depending upon the distillery, over an open peat fire, with the peat imparting smoky flavoring to the malt, again in varying degrees. The malts of other whiskies are generally dried in a closed kiln so the smoke from whatever the fuel may be does not reach the grain. The flavor of peat smoke is the one thing more than anything else that gives Scotch its unique taste and character.
Peat being harvested from a blanket bog on the Isle of Skye, Scotland
From the 1400’s onward, whisky was the favored drink in Scotland, and was an intrinsic part of Scottish life, particularly among the Lairds and Landowners, who had their associated monasteries, which they sponsored, make whisky for them. But during the Scottish Reformation of the mid 16th Century, a tumultuous period when the Catholic Church and the Protestant Calvinists vied for control over the Scottish Throne, Catholic monasteries, where whisky was made, began to lose many monks, priests, and friars, who in fear of repercussions if the Calvinist proved victorious, left Scotland for the continent. By 1570, during the regency of James VI, who was controlled by the Calvinists, Catholic monasteries across the kingdom, ceased to exist.
The friars and monks, who had previously distilled whisky for the church, then began to work for the wealthy lords and landowners, many acting as personal clergyman in hiding, within the realms, taking whisky making to the public. The tenants and workers on these estates learned the art of distillation from the monks and then began practicing it themselves. In 1644 the Scottish Parliament imposed a tax on all distilled spirits. The Scots distillers took their profession into hiding, practicing the craft far up into the mountains, and often did their work at night. This illegal spirit that they concocted began to be called by a couple of now quite famous nicknames; mountain dew and moonshine.
To send the craft of whisky distillation further underground, in 1707 when the Act of Union united the English and Scottish crown, Parliament in London imposed an additional tax on malt purchased by the distillers. The lords of Scotland who had operations took them into remote areas, and assembled their own private guards and armies to protect their distilleries from the royal excise tax collectors, and a wide spread black market for whisky developed.
In 1823, under the leadership of the 4th Duke of Gordon, the Excise Tax of 1823 was passed, which allowed for distillers to produce their product legally under a license. The producers would also have to pay a small percentage of tax based upon gallons sold, and the malt tax would be done away with. Gordon encouraged a tenant of his, George Smith, who was well known in the area for producing some of the finest single malt whisky, to come out of hiding and begin producing his whisky legally. Gordon even offered to help Smith with the licensing fee. Gordon was prompted into this action, according to legend, when his estate was visited by King George IV. Gordon proudly offered his royal guest a dram of the locally produced whisky. The king loved it. He wanted to meet the distiller and to purchase a large quantity for himself to take back to London. Of course, Gordon knew this was impossible, since George Smith as a moonshiner, but he was able to put his majesty off, he made an excuse, nobody is sure what exactly, but he promised his highness that he would procure some of the elixir for him soon and deliver it personally to the royal court. The name of that whisky; The Glenlivet, still one of the most popular Single Malt whiskies in the world.
The Glenlivet Distillery, Speyside, near the village of Ballindalloch
In 1824 George Smith became the first distiller in Speyside to apply for a license under the king and produce whisky. Smith was threatened with violence by other illicit distillers who wanted the Excise Tax to be repealed and they knew as long as some distillers accepted it, it would continue to be inforced. Gordon gave Smith his full backing and protection, and symbolically gave him a brace of pistols for his own protection and the protection of the distillery. The Glenlivet grew, with the help of high society in London, and by 1849 a second distillery was built. It too was soon running at capacity, and a third distillery was built in 1858. Unfortunately the second distillery was lost to a fire while the third was under construction. But, by leading by example, George Smith, and The Duke of Gordon, and The Glenlivet, brought Scotch whisky out of the mountains and back into the legal light of day.
The next big thing to happen to Scotch was the invention of the continuous still by Aeneas Coffey and the production of Grain whisky, beginning in 1831. Grain whisky was lighter than the more robust, intense malt whiskies, and with the melding of the two whiskies into Blended Scotch, and thus a spirit was produced that appealed to a much larger market segment.
Coffey’s Continuous Still Diagram, used in the making of Grain whiskey
Traditional Copper Pot Still Diagram
In 1880 another fortuitous event accidently helped promote Scotch in the eyes of the world. The preferred cocktail among elite society and the emerging middle class in both Europe and America was brandy and the recently invented carbonated soda. At the time most brandy was made in France, but along came the Phyloexera beetle, that attacked grape vines and within a few short years the vineyards of France were devastated to the point that wine and brandy virtually disappeared from the market. In it’s place consumers turned to whiskies, both Scotch and Irish, to mix with their soda. By the early 20th Century, whisky and soda, or Scotch and soda, was the most popular cocktail in the world.
Scotch continued to have some additional good luck, much of it at the expense of the Irish whiskey producers. At the beginning of World War I, Jameson Irish Whiskey is thought to have been the most popular whiskey in the British Empire. But, in 1916 the first salvo of the Anglo Irish War between the Irish Republican movement that lasted until peace was obtained in 1922 with the formation of the Irish Free State. During the war in Ireland, barley production was severely short, and whiskey production in Ireland fell dramatically.
Then in 1920, American Prohibition was enacted. According to legend, American Gangster named Jack “Legs” Diamond first approached Old Bushmills distillery and then the Jameson Distillery in Ireland. He wanted to make a deal, but for whatever reason, a deal couldn’t be worked out with the Irish distillers. Diamond then went to London and walked into Berry Brothers & Rudd on St. James Street, the largest wholesaler of spirits and wine in Britain, and ordered several hundred cases of their best Scotch. The spirit purveyors did not bat an eye.
Years later it was discovered that Berry Brothers & Rudd conspired with several American organized crime figures and had a transport network set up where they could get Scotch whisky into the states, and they never broke the law themselves. Berry Brothers & Rudd would legally ship Cutty Sark Blended Scotch Whisky, one of their newest brands, to the Bahamas, where it would be placed in British colonial governments warehouses. There a middle man, a Scots American Floridian named Bill McCoy would load the whisky onto his schooner and would sail off to coast just off of New Jersey’s Atlantic City. There, under the direction of political boss Nucky Johnson (who was fictionalized as Nucky Thompson in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire), the Scotch would be transported by speed boats to the shore, loaded onto trucks and then onto warehouses in New Jersey and New York. From there shipments would be arranged to the likes of Lucky Luciano, Myer Lansky, Bugsy Seigal, and Al Capone. According to historian George Rosie, the American market couldn’t get enough of the product. The arrangement lasted through the entirety of Prohibition but ended with the repeal of the Volstead Act in 1933. The relationship laid the ground for Cutty Sark to become the most popular Scotch in America. Bill McCoy, who grew to be a very wealthy man, also earned a reputation for selling the finest Scotch- unadulterated, undiluted, pure. And according to tradition, the Scotch whisky he delivered, his business associates would say was “The Real McCoy.”
Politics helped Scotch once more. Just as Prohibition was ending in America, a trade war broke out between Great Britain and the Irish Free State in 1932. This is really odd, because technically Ireland was still a dominion within the United Kingdom, but that’s another long and complicated story. The result of this dispute, was that the exportation of Irish Whiskey to the British markets within the Empire was suspended, and the Irish whiskey industry nearly collapsed with the loss of their base market, and by the time the trade war was resolved in 1938, Irish whiskey had no presence in any world markets. When World War II broke out, and after America’s entry following Pearl Harbor, when the US Soldiers and Sailors were in port in Britain, what did they drink in the pubs? Scotch. And when they came home, they brought Scotch drinking with them, and through the 1950’s, ‘60’s, and 70’s, Scotch was the preferred drink of businessmen in the United States.
Over time, by the 1980’s, Scotch was thought of as an old man’s drink, and it had lost market share in both Britain and the United States. There had been too much whisky made and not enough Scotch drinkers. At this time, almost all of the whisky leaving Scotland was blended whisky; there really wasn’t a market for single malts, and most single malt whisky was only drank locally. The distillers had to get creative. They started marketing their single malts, they began to open visitors’ centers for tourists, for a number of years they gave away free samples, but today these attractions are a part of their revenue making operations. There are over 50 Scotch whisky visitors’ centres associated with distilleries and even more specialty Scotch whisky shops across the country. Compare that to only 6 whiskey visitors’ centres in Ireland. Scotch whisky is interwoven into the culture, the history, and legacy of Scotland- the two cannot be separated. As author and film director John McClean put it, is the lifeblood of one small nation.
Today Johnny Walker Red Label Blended Scotch is the number one selling Scotch whisky in the world. Scotch exportation accounts for 5 billions Pounds Sterling in the British economy, or which 1 billion pounds is tax revenue. Single Malt and Blended Scotch can be found in nearly every bar, pub, saloon, and tavern in the world, some have a better selection than others.
Often I hear people say, I don’t like Scotch, it’s too something- either harsh or smoky, something. And I tell them, I know what you mean; I used to say the same things about Scotch, but then I learned how to drink it, I tried different Scotches, and a first I found one or two that I liked, then another and another, until today, there are just not too many that I find that I don’t like, single malts and blended. The Scots have a saying, “When they reach the age of wisdom, they will discover whisky.”
One more thing; I started with the story about the Dál Riata, the Celtic tribe from Ireland that crossed the North channel of the Irish Sea and settled and conquered a good portion of the islands and western highlands of Scotland. The Romans had another name for that particular Celtic tribe; Scoti- that is, the Scots. That’s why today, what the Romans called Caledonia, we call Scotland. You see the Scots were Irish, and it was the Irish monks who taught the Scots how to make their beloved Uisca Beatha.
Hishtory Episode 10
Allen Tatman: Writer and Producer
Brian McGeorge: Technical Director
Hishtory is a Wylde Irish Production, all rights reserved.
Works Cited:
Barnes, Dr. Ian. The Historical Atlas of the Celtic World. New York, Chartwell, 2009.
“Capone Helped Whisky Barons Beat Prohibition.” The Scotsman. 28 June, 2004
http://www.scotsman.com/news/capone-helped-whisky-barons-beat-prohibition-1-536957
Ellis, Peter Berresford. The Chronicles of the Celts. New York, Carroll & Graf, 1999
“History of Scotch Whisky,” Scotch Whisky Association. 31 May, 2012.
http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/understanding-scotch/history-of-scotch-whisky/
Johnson, Ben. “Uisge Beatha.” Historic UK: The History and Heritage Accommodation Guide. 2000-2009
http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Uisge-Beatha/
Lockheart, Sir Robert Bruce. Scotch: The Whisky of Scotland in Fact and Story. Glasgow, Neil Wilson Publishing, ,1st Edition, 1951. 8th Edition, 2011.
McCullough, David Willis. Wars of the Irish Kings. New York, Three Rivers Press, 2002.
Snow, Dean R. “Scotland’s Irish Origins.” Archaeology: A publication of the Archaeological Institute of America. 4 July, 2001
http://archive.archaeology.org/0107/abstracts/scotland.html
Standage, Tom. A History of Civilization in Six Glasses. New York, Walker & Company, 2005