SCOTCH WHISKEY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 209, 1 February 1872, Page 7

SCOTCH WHISKEY.

The name whiskey is derived from the Gaelic uisqe, water; and wiskey is sometimes called uisgebeaiha —that is usquebaugh, or water of life, or aqita vitae. It is a spirit made from grain, buckwheat, potatoes or even turnips; but the prime whiskey is made from barley after it has been malted. Whiskey is essentially a Scottish drink, and. nearly half the wiskey manufactured in the British Islands is produced north of the Tweed, In 1869, the number of gallons of proof spirits, distilled in the United Kingdom was, ,m jrguud numbers, close on 27,000,000, of

which 13,567,794 gallons" „ were made in Scotland. The number of distilleries that year was 110 in Scotland, 20 in Ireland, 8 in England.

The superiority of Scotland in the manufacture of whiskey is of comparatively recent date, and does not go back more than a century. In 1505, the exclusive right of making and selling "aqua vite " was granted by Act of Parliament to the Edinburgh College of Surgeons who conjoined the somewhat incongruous functions of surgeons and^ barbers. This Act was renewed several times, and a breach of the privilege was punished in 1641, at which period the making of whiskey would seem to have been really monopolised by tho medical fraternity, though the selling was less rigidly restricted. In 16J8, the drink of the. common people was ale, and sometimes a very weak kind of it called " mum ;" but the gentry had in addition brandy, to which was sometimes added sugar, and also a thinbodied claret, which was sold at ten pence a quart. After the revolution, on the 11th April, 1690, the town Treasurer of Edinburgh was ordered to furnish 14 hogsheads of aqua vitce for the use of the public, at the rate of 32 dols. for each hogshead ; and this all. went to G-lasgow, but whether to help at come jubilation connected with the revolution, or for some other purposes does not appear. In 1704, good French wine was sold in Edinburgh at 20 pence a bottle, and Burgundy at ten pence a quart, and at this time whiskey seems to have been very little used as a beverage. Till the eighteenth centuary was far advanced, the oaten cake and salt meat of the Scottish middle class were washed down with strong ale and a nip of brandy on great occasions, with still more rarely claret, punch, or maderia ; and it was near the close of the century before whiskey was a common drink where it is now so highly relished.

In 1743, a license dutj of £l was imposed, for the first time, on all " retailers of spirits," and the number was then 82S, a less number than exists now in Edinburgh alone. In 1847 there were only 625 licensed houses in Scotland, nor was there any great increase for years afterwards. Bu-ns sings of " Scotch drink " as consisting indifferently of ale or whiskey : "Whether through wimplin worms thou jink ; Or, Richly brown, ream o'er«the brink In glorious fiiem."

Previous to 1750, the duty on whiskey varied from 5d to Is 3d a gallon ; and the whole ascertained consumption rose only to 60,000 gallons. In 1770, there were 69,000 gallons consumed, and ten years afterwards the consumption was 291,242 gallons. Till the close of the century it did not reach 1,000,000 gallons; but there was a gradual increase, which was very rapid after 1820, when the duty was lowered. Tn 1869, the number of gallons on which duty was paid in Scotland was over 7,000,000.