General Spirits / Whiskey Info and History

Question 1

Definition of Whiskey

Answer 1

Whiskey is a spirit that:
-Distilled from a fermented mash of grains
-aged in a wooden barrel (which is almost always oak)
-it is not made from potatoes, fruit, or molasses

Question 2

Distillation is…

Answer 2

-dependent on the different boiling points of liquids
-to seperate we gently raise the temperature and capture condensed vapor as different liquids boil
-this only works if the liquids have sufficiently different boiling points
-water and ethanol are such a pair

Question 3

Early distillation history

Answer 3

-we don’t know when distilled spirits were first made
-records of aqua vitae being consumed in Ireland in 1400s
-in 1494 in Scotland malt was sent “to Friar John for making aqua vitae

Question 4

Aqua Vitae

Answer 4

Latin for “Water of Life”

Question 5

Uisce Beatha

Answer 5

Gaelic for “Water of Life” which would later be shortened and massaged into Whiskey

Question 6

Wisgi

Answer 6

Welsh spelling of Whiskey

Question 7

Mount Vernon

Answer 7

George Washington’s estate where he would for a short time be the nation’s largest distiller of rye whiskey

Question 8

What two things cemented whiskey’s place in the world?

Answer 8

-Steam Power
-Phylloxera aphid wiping out French grape crops (no Cognac)

Question 9

What were the years for American Prohibition?

Answer 9

1920 - 1933
law actually passed in 1919