Volumes can (and have) been written about the origins of whiskey. Ireland? Scotland? Somewhere more ancient and primal? A lot is unknown and, due to the paucity of written records, is unlikely to ever be known. What we do know is that the Mesopotamians were distilling medicines and perfume as early as 2000 BCE, and the Greeks were distilling chemicals in the 1st century CE. The medieval Arabs learned it from the Greeks, and Christian monks, in turn, learned it from the medieval Arabs through knowledge transfer. Distillation was then likely brought to the Celtic lands either by Celtic monks by way of other Christian missionaries in Europe, or having learned it directly from the medieval Arabs.
Irish Origins
Now here is where things get contentious: did whiskey (in the sense that we know it) first get distilled, pardon the pun, through Scotland or Ireland. Depending on which side of the Irish Sea you live in will heavily influence your perspective on the matter. However, historical evidence gives the Irish-origins argument a bit of a leg up, and it is likely that Irish missionaries, known for their travels, brought distillation back to Ireland from Southern Europe around 1000 CE.
Archeological excavations near Dublin that may even indicate a pre-Christian rise of distillation in Ireland (the jury is still out on this one), the 1627 CE translation of the 1405 CE Annals of Clonmacnoise, records the death of the head of a clan (in Ireland) after “taking a surfeit of aqua vitae” at Christmas. Regardless, by the mid-16th century, the consumption of whiskey was already widespread in Ireland and the English parliament passed a law prohibiting the unlawful distillation of whiskey in Ireland.
So what about the Scots?
Though it is not entirely clear whether Irish missionaries brought whiskey distillation to Scotland, it developed organically in Scotland, or came from somewhere else, the first Scottish reference to whiskey comes from the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland in 1494 CE, which record crown income and expenditures. This document states, “To Friar John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae, VIII bolls of malt.” Not a whole lot of ambiguity here. Further, in 1505, in Scotland, there is documentation of an inheritance case involving the bequest of a still.
The Water of Life
Though the debate over correct spelling of whisk(e)y may never be settled, the origins of the word itself have Latin roots. During the Roman Empire, concentrated alcohol was called “aqua vitae,” meaning the “water of life.” Uisge Beatha and Uisce Beatha are the Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic translations for ‘aqua vitae,” and were used in reference to whiskey, as was the anglicized “Usquebaugh” or “Usquebae.” Eventually, the “beatha” was dropped from the Gaelic and the Uisge/Uisce evolved into the common usage of whisk(e)y today. As a side note, Uisge/Usice actually share their root with the Germanic/English “water” and the Slavic “woda/voda” (meaning water), the origin of Wodka/Vodka.
Regardless of where where whiskey came from and the etymology of the name, the early version of whiskey was un-aged, unregulated, rough, and likely flavored with botanicals like fennel, anise, tarragon, mint, thyme, and raisin, much like modern-day gin, just to make it palatable. Details, however, are sketchy and early whiskey recipes elusive. However, its safe to assume that it was not something today’s connosier would recognize as potable whiskey. It’s also safe to assume that barring some ground breaking archeological or documentary find, debate over the details of whiskey’s origins will continue.
