While the process of distillation was arguably invented back in 2000 BC.
The knowledge of distillation moved across the Middle East from Mesopotamia until eventually reaching Scotland
and Ireland via traveling monks.
Our first written mention of distilled whiskey is in the Exchequer Rolls of 1494 with King James IV of Scotland
giving a large amount of malt barley to a friar for distillation.
At this time, however, whiskey was not a household drink but a drink for royalty and the upper class of
Scotland.
When King Henry VIII came to power in Britain, he started dissolving the monasteries of the British Empire.
Many of these monks began moving to farmland and started the widespread whiskey distillation causing whiskey to
become more common.
By 1609 a company by the name Old Bushmills Distillery became one of the first and oldest distilleries with a
royal license. At this same time European settlers started coming to North America causing whiskey to spread to
the new world.
Whiskey in America
When European settlers started coming in droves to North America they wanted something
to drink, and the import of alcoholic beverages like wine, brandy, and fortified wines started to flow into the
European colonies.
Settlers, however, were not satisfied with importing alcohol from places like Britain and France and sought to
make themselves self-sufficient in the drink market.
Drinks like mead, cider, and beer were some of the first drinks to be brewed locally by the settlers.
By 1640 on Staten Island the first casks of American whiskey were being produced and sold in small quantities
but, most of the whiskey being made was from crop and cattle farmers with grain to spare.
United States President George Washington was big into distilling his whiskey and selling it after the founding
of America until he died in 1799.
During that time a large immigration of Scottish and Irish people started happening and as the United States
started gathering more land out west those immigrants started to settle and brew whiskey.
Fast forwarding to the 1920s and prohibition brought forth the rise of moonshine and harder liquor like whiskey
became even bigger and now is an American cornerstone.
How Whiskey is Brewed
The distillation of whiskey into the drinks we see today is a long process that can take many years but it all
starts with grain. In a process called malting the grain is moistened to start the germination process to help
change starches into sugar enzymes afterward being heated up. Next is the process of making the wort to be used
for fermentation and distillation. Throwing the cooked grains into a large basin warm water and malted barley
are added until it turns into a thick porridge-like solution called mash. Mash is then added to a mash tub with
more hot water and is then agitated for several hours causing more starches to become sugar giving us our wort.
Wort can be fermented by adding yeast to the wort causing the sugar to be consumed and turned into alcohol in
vats called washbacks. This process can take up to 48 to 96 hours but, the finished product is distillers beer
with an alcohol content ranging from 7%-10% abv. This is the product that will be distilled into the final
whiskey for aging. Distillation is done by heating the beer to remove the alcohol from the water and leftover
grain product. Done in either a pot still or column still the start and end of the distilled whiskey is poured
off due to an undesirable taste and aroma. The unpoured off whiskey is put into a cask before being stored for
the final step of aging the whiskey for a smoother texture and taste.
While the process of distillation was arguably invented back in 2000 BC.
The knowledge of distillation moved across the Middle East from Mesopotamia until eventually reaching Scotland
and Ireland via traveling monks.
Our first written mention of distilled whiskey is in the Exchequer Rolls of 1494 with King James IV of Scotland
giving a large amount of malt barley to a friar for distillation.
At this time, however, whiskey was not a household drink but a drink for royalty and the upper class of
Scotland.
When King Henry VIII came to power in Britain, he started dissolving the monasteries of the British Empire.
Many of these monks began moving to farmland and started the widespread whiskey distillation causing whiskey to
become more common.
By 1609 a company by the name Old Bushmills Distillery became one of the first and oldest distilleries with a
royal license. At this same time European settlers started coming to North America causing whiskey to spread to
the new world.
The distillation of whiskey into the drinks we see today is a long process that can take many years but it all
starts with grain. In a process called malting the grain is moistened to start the germination process to help
change starches into sugar enzymes afterward being heated up. Next is the process of making the wort to be used
for fermentation and distillation. Throwing the cooked grains into a large basin warm water and malted barley
are added until it turns into a thick porridge-like solution called mash. Mash is then added to a mash tub with
more hot water and is then agitated for several hours causing more starches to become sugar giving us our wort.
Wort can be fermented by adding yeast to the wort causing the sugar to be consumed and turned into alcohol in
vats called washbacks. This process can take up to 48 to 96 hours but, the finished product is distillers beer
with an alcohol content ranging from 7%-10% abv. This is the product that will be distilled into the final
whiskey for aging. Distillation is done by heating the beer to remove the alcohol from the water and leftover
grain product. Done in either a pot still or column still the start and end of the distilled whiskey is poured
off due to an undesirable taste and aroma. The unpoured off whiskey is put into a cask before being stored for
the final step of aging the whiskey for a smoother texture and taste.