Whiskey

What is "aqua vitae" you ask? It is the "water of life" first produced by monks in Ireland for medicinal purposes. Historians credit the first distillation anywhere for the seventh through the fifteenth century. The word "whiskey" derives from the Gaelic "water of life" putting an end to the Scots claim to be the originators of this most enjoyable of refreshments.

Scotch Whiskey has a distinctive smokey or peaty smell and flavor because the grain is roasted over open flame imparting the smell and taste to the grain and thus to the finished distilled product.  Irish, Canadian and American whiskeys roast the grain in an enclosed process thus keeping the smoke away from infusing the grain.

Irish Whiskey is distilled three times giving it a softer taste than Scotch or American whiskey. Each distillation process eliminates impurities which are a contributor to the dreaded hang-over.

Bourbon is actually a whiskey but to be called bourbon is must be distilled in Kentucky.

The distilled whiskey is actually clear until it is aged in fired oak barrels. The ageing is what gives whiskey its color and much or its flavor.