Interesting Facts About whisky

Interesting Facts About whisky

It generates huge tax revenue

The export of whisky generates a healthy £125 a second for the Scottish government. Just under 38 bottles of whisky being exported from Scotland every second. Laid end-to-end, the 99 million cases of Scotch exported each year would run the distance between Edinburgh and New York – six times.

A single malt may see several casks

It’s a common misconception that single malt whisky is the product of one cask. In fact, it is the product of a single distillery and may actually come from several casks therein.

Scotland has whisky galore!

Scotland is home to more than 20 million casks of maturing whisky. That’s almost four for every person living there.

It’s name has meaning

Whisky in Gaelic reads ‘uisge beathe’, which means ‘water of life’.

A lot of whisky is lost during maturation

Whisky stored in barrels gradually evaporates at an approximate rate of 2% a year. This is referred to as the famous ‘angels’ share’.

Blending softened older, harsher whiskies

Blended whisky came about at a time when single malt whisky was considerably younger and more harsh than it is today. Blends consist of anywhere from 15 to 50 individual whiskies, testament to the blender’s art.

Alcoholics anonymous

 Bill Wilson, the founder of “Alcoholics anonymous” asked for whiskey on his deathbed, but the nurse wouldn’t give it to him.

Whisky starts its life as beer

A deliciously true story. Whisky is made from 'wort', which is the 'beer' that gets distilled. In fact, wort is made out of all the ingredients that you would find in a glass of chilled beer - water, yeast and malts. Moreover this process is used to prevent unwanted pests.

We spell Scottish and Canadian whisky without the e and the others as whiskey

To 'e' or not to 'e', that is the difference! When it comes to spelling, only refer to Scottish/Scotch whisky or Canadian whisky without the ‘e.' If its origins are rooted elsewhere, opt for whiskey.

The oldest whisky is over 150 years old

The 400ml bottle of Glenavon Special Liqueur Whisky holds the Guinness World Record for being the World's Oldest Whisky. It is rumoured to be packaged in between 1851 and 1858 and was owned by an Irish family till it was auctioned off to Bonhams in London and fetched a staggering £14,850.

Macallan 'M' whisky is the most expensive in the world

A Lalique decanter of Macallan ‘M’ whisky was auctioned for £393,109 this year in Hong Kong and came to be known as the world's most expensive make of this alcohol. The luxury decanter contains 6 litres of whisky drawn from Spanish oak sherry casks dating from the 1940s to the 1990s.

No one knows who invented whisky

No one knows who the first one was to find out how to make this magic drink. It is believed that whisky was originally crafted by monks, which made it a holy spirit. Ha! Holy SPIRIT. But it all changed when King Henry VIII dissolved all of their liquor-ridden monasteries. Poor sober monks!

Besides the malts, there are 7 regional whiskys and one of them is Indian!

So next time you drink your glass of Antiquity, make sure it is a Patiala peg fulldesi style! Scottish, American, Canadian, German, Irish and Australian are the other regional whiskies available.

It has health benefits too. Drinking whisky can prevent cancer

Drinking a moderate amount of whisky can actually have benefits! Drinking whisky can prevent cancer, reduce the chances of a stroke and also reduces possibilities of heart diseases. And that's not it! Drinking 1 to 6 glasses of whisky over a week can lower an adult's risk of dementia.

Mountain Dew was originally meant to be a whisky chaser

Barney and Ally Hartman were just a couple of bros looking to get their whiskey on so they went ahead and invented Mountain Dew. The tagline had nothing to do with either darr or jeet . The original slogan was “Yahoo Mountain Dew, it’ll tickle your innards.” Seriously, that was the slogan!

One of the basic ingredients of Tabasco sauce is whisky

Tabasco sauce is actually aged in barrels that previously contained JD . It gives the sauce an extra kick, and that lovely sting.