Aqua vitae the water of life
better known as whiskey,
and here in Scotland where I am right now it's kind of a big deal,
and not just in the pubs but in the country's history as well.
So thank you to Hellofresh for sponsoring this video as we explore whiskey's past in Scotland
this time on Drinking History.
So I'm here at the Balmoral Arms in Scotland just down the way from Balmoral
where the queen is as we speak.
I'm actually recording this in where we're going to be eating dinner in a couple hours and
gorgeous place but it is a working restaurant so apologies for any noise during this recording.
Now on this trip I have been making several different videos.
I'm going to be having a video come out on Medieval haggis that I made, and
food around the historical Macbeth but I was going to do a short video on whiskey,
but as I've been traveling around going to different distilleries and frankly drinking
my way across the country, I've learned so much about the history of this drink
that I figured it needed an entire episode. The only thing is because it's kind of
impromptu and because it's on what Robert Burns called the scotch drink
there isn't really a recipe because you can't make scotch whiskey at home.
One, if you're not in Scotland, but two it's probably illegal,
and the way that they typically drink it over here it's just with a couple drops of water
end of recipe. So I figured this would focus mostly on the history of whiskey
here in Scotland and I'll kind of talk about what makes whiskey whiskey when in Scotland, but first
I want to try a sip of this Aberlour whiskey which is made about an hour away in Aberlour.
Here we go.
*glug glug
Oh that's very very nice, it's almost devoid of that peatyness that you get with a lot of
the whiskies from the islands which I actually really like that peatyness but
some people don't. It's very smoky, and kind of fiery.
This is very, very smooth. It has more of a spice to it.
Am I getting cloves? Maybe? Maybe not, but it is quite nice.
I feel a dram of this would be a perfect way to finish off a meal
that you can make at home from today's sponsor Hellofresh.
Well here I am back home and ready to get cooking and I don't just mean for the show
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That's hellofresh.com using codetastinghistory16, and now back to Scotland.
Oh good you're back now.
Whiskey is made all over the world and it can vary greatly from place to place.
Essentially it can refer to most any alcohol derived from a grain
that is then distilled into a spirit and aged,
but here in Scotland where the drink is typically not spelled with an 'e'
the rules are quite specific on what makes a scotch whisky.
Typically there are only three ingredients: water, malted barley, and yeast.
Though some others can use grains like wheat and rye,
the only other thing that can legally be added is caramel color,
though it has nothing to do with caramel other than the actual color.
It adds no flavor to the whisky and is there simply to add consistency
to the look of the whisky over the years.
Now whether it's single malt or single grain,
meaning it's produced at one distillery or if it's a blend of different whiskys
from different distilleries
whiskey must be the only ingredient, and while that seems kind of obvious
it's actually not because until rather recently like the 20th century
they would often add in things like sherry or port to mellow the flavor.
Additionally the whisky has to be made here in Scotland,
and it has to be 40% or 80 proof alcohol.
Perhaps most importantly though to be considered whisky in Scotland
it must be aged in oak barrels for at least 3 years and a day.
This is the part of the process that gives whisky most of its color and most of its flavor
making the drink something that you actually want to enjoy,
and it's that regulation that it has to be aged
that probably led the drink to be as good as it's become.
The irony is that the person who came up with the regulation was a teetotaler
and it was done in an effort to destroy the whiskey industry.
See during World War I the politician David Lloyd George declared that between the overuse
of Britain's barley supply for whisky and the drunkenness that the drink caused he declared
"Drink is doing more damage in the war than all the German submarines put together".
And in an effort to cripple the whisky industry with regulations he introduced
a law that required the drink to be aged in barrels for a an extended period of time.
He actually wanted 10 years, what ended up happening was at least three years
so basically on 3 years and one day the whisky makers opened up the barrels,
took a taste and realized oh well this is actually better than what we had before.
So those are the rules that describe a modern-day scotch whisky,
and it is a far cry from what whisky was earlier on in history.
So make sure you subscribe to Tasting History as we travel back to the origins
of whisky in Scotland.
So there is a lot of debate over where whisky was first produced.
Scotland, Ireland, Wales, frankly nobody really knows and honestly the answer would really depend
on what you consider to be whisky, but one of the earliest mentions of a proto-whisky comes from
Ireland and as I'm in Scotland I better not say that too loud.
In 1405 we are told "Chieftain Richard
Magrannell died at Christmas by taking a surfeit of aqua vitae.
Mine authors saith that it was not aqua vitae to him
but aqua mortis." That is it wasn't the water of life but the water of death
but aqua vitae is what people called the distilled liquor that would become whisky.
See while water of life is aqua vitae in Latin
in Gaelic it's usque baugh, and that was eventually shortened to ushka
or whisky meaning water. Though this early drink was nothing like whisky today
it was probably going to be more like a
flavorful rubbing alcohol than the stuff in this glass.
In fact it wasn't even always made from grain. As late as 1600 descriptions say that it could be
made from grapes, and in 1658 the term is used to describe wine mixed with honey and herbs, not even
distilled, but more often than not from a fairly early period whisky was made from malted barley
as is evident by the first mention of the drink in Scotland.
The 1494 Scottish Exchequer Rolls called
for "eight bowls of malt to Friar John Cor wherewith to make aquavitae."
And the king at the time James IV was said to be quite the fan of the drink,
and records show that a barber actually gifted him a bottle when he was in Dundee
and he must have really enjoyed this bottle
because in 1505 he gave the guild of surgeon barbers in Edinburgh
a monopoly on producing and selling whisky within the city.
Now today you might think twice before going
to a surgeon who offers you whisky right before performing the surgery,
but back then when surgeons and barbers were one in the same
you're probably going to be safer drinking the whisky than getting cut open,
and frankly I kind of agree with him because back then whisky was thought of as medicinal and
it sure is today in small amounts.
"Being moderately taken, it's sloweth age; it strengtheneth youth; it cutteth phlegm;
it abandoneth melancholy; it relish it the heart it lighteneth the mind;
it quickeneth the spirits truly it is a sovereign liquor if it be orderly taken."
Though not all whiskeys were created equal. In the
early 17th century a gentleman whose parents cruelly named him Martin Martin
described several varieties made in the western isles of Scotland, one being four times distilled.
"And this by the Natives is called Usquebaugh-baul...
which at first taste affects all the members of the Body:
two spoonfuls of this Last liquor is sufficient dose;
and if any man exceed this it would presently stop his breath, and endanger his life." But as whisky
grew in popularity, whether twice distilled or four times, it did have its detractors.
By the end of the 16th century the Scottish government was actually worried
that whisky was going to be a cause of famine
because they were using up all of the barley to make alcohol rather than bread,
and in 1609 the Statutes of Iona declared that when it came to the Hebrides Islands
"A main cause of the poverty and disorder of the Islanders being their excessive drinking...
all general sale of wine or aqua vitae is to be stopped under severe penalties,
reserving liberty, however, to all persons in the Islands to brew whisky
and other drink to serve their own houses." So you could make just enough for your
own household. Now there was also part of the provision that let the chieftains of the island
make basically as much as they could sell to the Lowlanders because even back then there was an
idea that the Lowlanders handled their alcohol better than the Highlanders
A stereotype which quite unjustly has carried on for several centuries afterward,
and these were the first of many laws that treated
the Highlanders more harshly than their Lowland neighbors
Though despite the attacks on the whisky business it continued to thrive
and so in 1644 the Scottish Parliament decided
instead of making all of these rules they would just tax it,
and thus began a centuries-long game of cat and mouse between
distillers and the excise man or tax collectors.
And the relationship between these parties was often rather complicated sometimes it was
very contentious and even became violent,
but at other times there was a mutual respect and
that respect often centered around the whisky itself.
As one excise man from 1736 wrote about the Highlanders
"The ruddy complexion, nimbleness and strength of those people is not owing to water-drinking
but of the aqua vitae, a malt spirit which is commonly used in that country,
which serves both for victual and drink."
And while the excise man was never particularly
popular you'll do well to remember that one of Scotland's favorite sons the poet
Robert Burns started out as an excise man and would have probably continued
in that line of work had he not developed a talent for the quill.
And even with the taxes whisky had become in the words of an English rent collector from 1724
"the glory of the country", and it even played a role the veracity of which is up for debate
in one of Scotland's most pivotal moments. The night before the Battle of Culloden.
"Mr. John Maitland... a Presbyter of the Episcopal Church in Scotland...
he administered a holy eucharist
to Lord Strathallan on the Cullodenfield (where the gallant nobleman received his death wound),
it is said, with oat cake and whisky, the requisite elements not being attainable."
And rather cruelly after the Jacobite cause had been lost,
an English Colonel Watson wrote from Fort Augustus that
to root out those involved in the rebellion one should interview those who were known
to be sympathizers. Then "...fill him drunk with whisky as often as he may judge proper,
which I'm confident is the only way to penetrate the secrets of these people."
Also I have discussed the Jacobite Rebellion briefly here on the channel before but
if you are interested in that or anything that has to do with Scottish history
I definitely suggest that you watch Bruce Fumi's channel Scotland History Tours.
He has become a good friend, we've actually recorded some stuff while here in Scotland and
we had the benefit of him taking us around Scotland and telling us history in the car.
It was absolutely fantastic, his passion for history is just- the way he tells these stories
nobody else can do it like him
So go watch his channel, I'm going to put links
in the description to some of my favorite videos of his
as well as where you can actually get him,
hire him to take you around Scotland the next time you visit,
but back to the whisky. So following the Jacobite Rebellion many facets of Highland life
were effectively banned. Things like kilts and tartans,
and bagpipes. Even the Gaelic language itself
became banned for many people. It was very very complicated,
but effectively it was banned for many Highlanders,
and even whisky kind of got a bum rap. It was so associated with the Highlands
that many of the gentry and the Lowlands who were trying to make nice with the English
all but abandoned whisey in favor of things like claret and brandy.
Though it seems that this water of life did still hold some sway as whisky from the Highlands
"...was only fitted for the most vulgar and fire-loving palettes;
but when a little of the real stuff from Glenlivet or Aarran could be got
it was dispensed with as sparing a hand as curaçao or benedictine."
Scene change!
They had to get started doing dinner service downstairs so I came upstairs because I didn't
want to be THAT guy. Anyway in 1785 Robert Burns, that same poet who had once been a tax collector
or excise man, actually wrote a poem extolling the virtues of what he called the scotch drink.
"Let other poets raise a fracas, about vines and wines, and drunken Bacchus
and crabbit names and stories wrack us,
and grate our lug: I sing the juice Scotch bear can make us in glass of jug.
O thou, my muse! Guide old Scotch Drink!... Inspire me,
till I lisp and wink, to sing thy name."
Burns wrote this poem in part to bring back some pride to
the drink as he would later do and probably more famously with haggis,
and whisky needed some pride right now because it was about to face its toughest trial.
Now illegal stills had been a thing ever since those first regulations in the early 1600s
but by the end of the 18th century new laws were being enacted that made practically
all whiskey in Scotland have to be made on the sly, and it went all throughout the country.
At one point there were 8 legal stills in Edinburgh and 400 illegal stills,
but the regulations were definitely more draconian for the Highlands
effectively banning all whisky produced there.
This was truly the age of the illicit still. They would be hidden under bridges and in houses, even
in barns and churches, and there was a practice of labeling whisky barrels with the name sheep dip
because sheep dip was a poison that they would put on sheep to stop them from getting bugs and
fungus. Smuggling ran rampant as did corruption between the distillers and the excise men,
and when the government cracked down one of the ways that they did so was to offer
a reward for people turning in stills,
but what actually happened was that the distillers themselves would take their old stills, turn them
in, take the reward, and go buy a brand new still though ironically all of this regulation made
it so that the Highland distillers were able to refine their production, producing a better whisky
than the Lowlands who were making it on mass,
and so kind of fell into the trap of shoddy mass production.
Now Parliament eventually realized that the more they regulated,
the more people just broke the law so in 1823 they passed the Excise Act.
This put a fixed license fee plus payment per gallon on any whisky distilled,
and it made it far more equitable throughout Scotland. The industry began to boom and in 1848
when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert began summering at Balmoral Castle just down the
road from where I am right now they ordered in casks of whisey from Lochnagar Distillery
making the drink socially acceptable among the gentry once again. Now just after this whisky
benefited from a bug, the same bug that absinthe benefited from in France,
it was called phylloxera and it decimated the grapevines of most of Europe,
and hence the wine industry, and so while the wine industry was trying to get back up on its feet
absinthe came in and filled the gap in France, but in England scotch whisky came down
and made sure that the country didn't have to go a decade of being sober.
This is the time period when many of the famous whiskies that are still
enjoyed today began production,
and it was also the first time that blended whiskies really became an art form.
This period also saw a return of marketing scotch in a way that it hadn't seen for quite some time.
First echoing Robert Burns' distillers played into the Scottishness of the drink adding
tartans and scotty dogs, and kilted bagpipers to their ads.
When we visited the Dewar's Distillery in Aberfeldy we learned that in
the early 20th century to help with their marketing
they purchased the quintessentially Scottish painting 'The monarch of the Glenn'
for 26,000 pounds which is a lot of money today,
but back then was an extraordinary amount costing pretty much as much as the distillery,
and to get their money's worth they put it on bottles and posters and all sorts of marketing
material, and while we were there we also saw that they resurrected another marketing ploy
that hadn't been used in quite some time, and that was to tout whisky as medicinal.
They had a bottle of Doers labeled anti-diabetic whisky and many
distillers followed suit, one calling itself "a wholesome stimulant that ministers to good
health and neither affects the head nor the liver".
And whileI feel that marketing ploy has gone away scotch whisky has definitely not.
In fact it has only grown over the past 150 years. Ironically the only place where its
consumption has seemed to decrease is Scotland itself. Around 1800 the
average Scott drank a pint of legal whisky a week and an untold amount of illegal whisky.
Well by 1900 that amount had dropped to about a half pint,
and it's continued to slowly drop ever since
but based on how many distilleries I've seen
around the country and how many people are drinking in every bar that we're at
I don't think that we have to fear scotch whisky's demise anytime soon,
and I for one am very glad because I have definitely come to enjoy a glass of ushkabeha.
So thank you again to the Balmoral Arms for letting me use their restaurant and
now their bedroom for filming, and make sure to keep an eye out for more Scottish
episodes coming up in the next couple months, and I will see you next time on Drinking History.
*GLUG*