History Flashcards
(14 cards)
1494
King James IV requested VIII Bolls of malt to make aqua vitae from Friar John Cor in the Exchequer Rolls
1644
Scottish parliament places the first tax on Scotch Whisky to raise money for the army of the Covenant
1794
The Wash Act. This law defined the ‘Wash’ as the fermented beverage before distillation, and taxed based on the size of the Wash Still, or the ‘first distillation’ still. It also introduced the Highland Line
1814
Small Stills Act abolished the Highland and Lowland Line, and permitted the use of small stills throughout Scotland
1823
The 1823 Excise Act - halved duty on spirit, set a reasonable license fee of 10 pounds a year, and allowed for whisky to be aged in bond before tax was paid
1830
Aeneas Coffey patented the column still. This allowed for continuous, quick, high abv, clean grain spirit to be produced
1842-54
industrial revolution was underway, and over this decade, the railway connected all the parts of Scotland that previously would have been hard to access
1853
Andrew Usher developed Usher’s Old Vatted Glenlivet. He was the first grocer to blend malt and grain
1860’s-1900
Phyloxera epidemic destroyed the vineyards in France, which were a major source for wine and brandy production. This left consumers in Europe without a beverage, and thus left space for Scotch whisky to gain a foothold there
1909
1909, a Royal Commision ruled that ‘Scotch Whisky embraced malt, grain and blended whisky.’
1960’s-70’s
Boom post World Wars
1980’s
Whisky Loch - overstock from the previous few post WW2 decades, and shifting consumer trends, that Scotch whisky needed to reinvent itself
Introduce Single Malt Category
2009
Scotch Whisky Regulations. These regulations defined modern Scotch whisky as we know it today
1860
Grove Spirit Act - allowed british rectifiers to blend different types of spirit, including comlumn and pot-stills
Grocer’s License
