Editing Scotch whisky (section)

== History ==
[[File:Greybeard whisky.JPG|thumb|upright|Greybeard Heather Dew Scotch whisky jug]]
The earliest record of [[distillation]] in Scotland is in the ''[[Exchequer Rolls of Scotland]]'' for 1494.<ref name="ERoS">{{Cite book |title=Exchequer Rolls of Scotland 1494–95 |volume=10 |page=487 |quote=Et per liberacionem factam fratri Johanni Cor per perceptum compotorum rotulatoris, ut asserit, de mandato domini regis ad faciendum aquavite infra hoc compotum viij bolle brasii.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland |date=December 1497 |volume=1 |location=Edinburgh |pages=ccxiii–iv, 373 |quote=Item, to the barbour that brocht acqua vitae to the King in Dundee, by the King's command, xxxi shillings.}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|To [[Friar]] John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae, VIII bolls of malt.|''Exchequer Rolls'' of Scotland, 1 June 1494.}}
The Exchequer Rolls' record crown income and expenditure and the quote records eight [[Scottish units#Dry volume|boll]]s of malt given to Friar John Cor to make aqua vitae over the previous year. The term {{Wikt-lang|la|aqua vitae}} is [[Latin]] for "water of life" and was the general term for distilled [[Liquor|spirits]].<ref name="MoMWoW">{{Cite web |title=Whisky or Whiskey |url=https://www.masterofmalt.com/c/guides/whisky-or-whiskey/ |access-date=17 January 2020 |website=Master of Malt |language=en-GB}}</ref> This would be enough for 1,500 bottles, which suggests that distillation was well-established by the late 15th century.<ref name="swafaqs">{{Cite web |title=History |url=http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/understanding-scotch/history-of-scotch-whisky/ |access-date=16 July 2012 |publisher=Scotch Whisky Association}}</ref>

The first known reference to a [[Alembic|still]] for making "aquavite" in Scotland appears in the [[Aberdeen]] council registers,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019 |title=The Still in context: a list of early references related to aquavite in Scotland |url=https://aberdeenregisters.org/2019/07/19/the-still-in-context-a-list-of-early-references-related-to-aquavite-in-scotland |access-date=9 August 2021 |publisher=Aberdeen Registers}}</ref> in a case heard in 1505 by the town's bailies concerning the inheritance of goods belonging to a chaplain named Sir Andrew Gray, who died in 1504. Among his goods was recorded (in [[History of the Scots language|Middle Scots]]) "ane stellatour for aquavite and ros wattir'".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019 |title=Aberdeen Registers Online: 1398-1511 |url=https://abdn.pure.elsevier.com/en/datasets/aberdeen-registers-online-1398-1511 |publisher=University of Aberdeen |quote=entry reference ARO-8-0466-02}}</ref>

Aqua vitae (in the form of wine or spirits) was used when making gunpowder to moisten the slurry of saltpetre, charcoal and sulphur.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Famous whisky drinkers: King James IV &#124; Scotch Whisky |url=https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/famous-whisky-drinkers/13189/king-james-iv/ |website=scotchwhisky.com}}</ref> As a drink, Scotch whisky was a favourite of King [[James IV of Scotland]].<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web |title=A Comprehensive Yet Concise History of Scotch Whisky |url=https://bespokeunit.com/whisky/history/ |access-date=25 December 2019 |website=Bespoke Unit|date=17 May 2018 }}</ref>

Spirit production was first taxed by the [[Parliament of Scotland]] from January 1644, with an excise duty of 2s 8d imposed per [[Joug|Scots pint]]; instigating the illicit distilling of spirits within the country.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Origins and History of Whisky {{!}} The Scotch Whisky Experience |url=https://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk/about-whisky/history |access-date=1 September 2021 |website=www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk}}</ref> Between the 1760s and the 1830s a substantial unlicensed trade originated from the [[Scottish Highlands|Highlands]], forming a significant part of the region's export economy. In 1782, more than 1,000 illegal stills were seized in the Highlands: these can only have been a fraction of those in operation. The [[Scottish Lowlands|Lowland]] distillers, who had no opportunity to avoid taxation, complained that untaxed Highland whisky made up more than half the market. The heavy taxation during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] gave the illicit trade a large advantage, but their product was also considered better quality, commanding a higher price in the Lowlands. This was due to the method of taxation: malt was subject to tax (at a rate that climbed substantially between the 1790s and 1822). The licensed distillers, therefore, used more raw grain in an effort to reduce their tax bill.{{r|Devine 1994|p=119-134}}

The Highland magistrates, themselves members of the landowning classes, had a lenient attitude to unlicensed distillers—all of whom would be tenants in the local area. They understood that the trade supported the rents paid. Imprisoned tenants would not be able to pay any rent.{{r|Devine 1994|p=119-134}}

In 1823, [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] eased restrictions on licensed distilleries with the [[Excise Act 1823]] ([[4 Geo. 4]]. c. 94), while at the same time making it harder for the illegal stills to operate. Magistrates found counsel for the Crown appearing in their courts, so forcing the maximum penalties to be applied, with some cases removed to the [[Court of Exchequer (Scotland)|Court of Exchequer]] in [[Edinburgh]] for tougher sentences. Highland landowners were now happy to remove tenants who were distillers in [[Highland Clearances|clearances]] on their estates. These changes ushered in the modern era of Scotch production: in 1823 2,232,000 gallons of whisky had duty paid on it; in 1824 this increased to 4,350,000 gallons.<ref name="Devine 1994">{{Cite book |last=Devine |first=T M |title=Clanship to Crofters' War: The social transformation of the Scottish Highlands |date=1994 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-9076-9 |edition=2013}}</ref>{{rp|119–134}}

A farmer, George Smith, working under landlord the [[Duke of Gordon]], was the first person in Scotland<ref>{{Cite web |title=Glenlivet Single Malt Scotch Whisky &#124; The Whisky Shop |url=https://www.whiskyshop.com/single-malt-scotch-whisky/distilleries/glenlivet |website=www.whiskyshop.com}}</ref> to take out a licence for a distillery under the new act, founding the [[Glenlivet Single Malt|Glenlivet Distillery]] in 1824, to make single malt Scotch.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Story |url=https://www.theglenlivet.com/en-CA/our-story |website=The Glenlivet}}</ref> Some of the distilleries which started legal operations in the next few years included [[Bowmore distillery|Bowmore]], [[Strathisla distillery|Strathisla]], [[Balblair distillery|Balblair]], and [[Glenmorangie distillery|Glenmorangie]]; all remain in business today.<ref name="auto2" />

Two events helped to increase whisky's popularity. The first was the introduction in 1831 of the [[column still]]. [[Aeneas Coffey]] patented a refined version of a design originally created by Robert Stein, based on early innovations by Anthony Perrier, for the new type of still<ref name="auto2" /> which produced whisky much more efficiently than the traditional [[pot still]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ssNMAgAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-510507-0 |page=96 |access-date=6 October 2021}}</ref> The column still allowed for [[continuous distillation]], without the need for cleaning after each batch was made. This process made manufacturing more affordable by performing the equivalent of multiple distillation steps.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |date=5 October 2018 |title=The Difference Between Pot Versus Column Stills, Explained |url=https://vinepair.com/articles/pot-column-distilling-vodka/ |website=VinePair}}</ref> The new still dramatically increased production and the resultant whisky was less intense and smoother, making it more popular.<ref name="auto1" /> Secondly, there was a shortage of wine and brandy in France, significant by 1880, due to ''[[phylloxera]]'', a parasitic insect, destroying many vineyards, which led to a surge in demand for whisky. By the 1890s, almost forty new distilleries had opened in Scotland. In a speculative boom, the Edinburgh blenders [[Pattisons (whisky company)|Pattisons Ltd.]] came to prominence before spectacularly failing.<ref name="SM23">{{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Sean |title=The Pattison Bros: The men who nearly brought down the Scotch whisky industry |url=https://foodanddrink.scotsman.com/drink/pattison-bros-men-nearly-brought-scotch-whisky-industry/ |access-date=7 January 2025 |work=The Scotsman |date=21 September 2023}}</ref> In the downturn, [[The Distillers Company]] were able to buy up other firms' assets.<ref name="WM20">{{cite news |last1=Vorel |first1=Jim |title=How Two Brothers Managed to Almost Destroy the 20th Century Scotch Whisky Industry |url=https://whiskymag.com/articles/peter-the-great/ |access-date=8 January 2025 |work=Paste Magazine |date=22 May 2020}}</ref> The industry was also affected by disputes about whether grain or blended whisky was worthy of the name, with an adverse decision in North London Police Court in 1905.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bruce-Gardyne |first1=Tom |title=Peter the great |url=https://whiskymag.com/articles/peter-the-great/ |access-date=8 January 2025 |work=Whisky Magazine |date=16 April 2000}}</ref> A ''Royal Commission on Whisky and other Potable Spirits'' was appointed in 1906 and reported in 1909 with a victory for the grain distillers and blenders.<ref name="MS62">{{cite journal |last1=Storrie |first1=Margaret |title=The Scotch Whisky Industry |journal=Transactions and Papers (Institute of British Geographers) |date=1962 |issue=31 |page=102 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/621089 |access-date=8 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The Royal Commission On Whisky And Other Potable Spirits |journal=British Medical Journal |date=14 August 1909 |volume=2 |issue=2537 |pages=399-404 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25283150 |access-date=8 January 2025}}</ref> The industry was further affected by [[World War I]], [[Prohibition in the United States]] and later, by the [[Great Depression]]; many of the companies closed and never re-opened.<ref name="auto2" /><ref name="MS62"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ranahan |first=Jared |date=12 July 2019 |title=How Phylloxera Jumpstarted the Modern Whiskey Industry |url=https://www.gobourbon.com/how-phylloxera-jumpstarted-the-modern-whiskey-industry/}}</ref> Of the 159 distilleries operating in the boom years around 1900, only 15 survived to 1933.<ref name="WM20"/>

During the 1970s there was a new boom in Scotch whisky production that led to an overproduction in the early 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scotch on a Rising Tide {{!}} WhiskyInvestDirect |url=https://www.whiskyinvestdirect.com/whisky-news/whisky-loch-092320221 |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=www.whiskyinvestdirect.com}}</ref> Starting in 1981 whisky distilleries slashed production by a third and kept it low for a decade. During that time many distilleries closed. [[Banff distillery|Banff]], [[Brora distillery|Brora]], [[Coleburn distillery|Coleburn]], [[Convalmore distillery|Convalmore]], [[Dallas Dhu distillery|Dallas Dhu]], [[Glen Albyn distillery|Glen Albyn]], [[Glenesk distillery|Glenesk]], [[Glen Flagler distillery|Glen Flagler]], [[Glenlochy distillery|Glenlochy]], [[Glen Mhor distillery|Glen Mhor]], [[Glenugie distillery|Glenugie]], [[Glenury distillery|Glenury]], [[Millburn distillery|Millburn]], [[North Port distillery|North Port]], [[Port Ellen distillery|Port Ellen]] and [[St Magdalene distillery|St Magdalene]] were mothballed, shut down or demolished.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Is a second 'whisky loch' brewing? {{!}} Scotch Whisky |url=https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/features/26340/is-a-second-whisky-loch-brewing/ |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=scotchwhisky.com |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What We Lost in the Whisky Loch |url=http://whiskyadvocate.com/what-we-lost-in-the-whisky-loch |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=whiskyadvocate.com |language=en}}</ref>

Since the 2010s, Scotch whisky has entered a new phase of growth with new distilleries like [[Ardnahoe distillery|Ardnahoe]] and [[Borders distillery|Borders]] opening and older distilleries like [[Brora distillery|Brora]], [[Port Ellen distillery|Port Ellen]] and [[Rosebank distillery|Rosebank]] reopening.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scotch whisky distilleries to open in 2018 {{!}} Scotch Whisky |url=https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/features/17347/scotch-whisky-distilleries-to-open-in-2018/ |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=scotchwhisky.com |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Scotch whisky distilleries to open in 2019 {{!}} Scotch Whisky |url=https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/features/22412/scotch-whisky-distilleries-to-open-in-2019/ |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=scotchwhisky.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>