Why it’s time to scotch the myths about whisky
Amid claims it should really be ‘Irish’, a few facts about our national drink
COULD it really be true? According to one expert, Scotch whisky may first have been distilled in Ireland, and brought to Scotland in the 13th century. Here, Emma Cowing investigates 20 other things you might not know about our national tipple.
1 In October 2019, a 1926 Macallan sold at auction for $1.9million. Not only is it the most expensive whisky ever sold, it is the most expensive bottle of any spirit or wine the world has seen.
2 The first Scotch whisky distillery founded by a woman opened in 2017. Toulvaddie, near Tain, was set up by film and TV executive Heather Nelson and is expected to produce its first whisky, described as light and ‘easy drinking’, within the next ten years.
3 Around 34 bottles of whisky are exported from Scotland every second.
4 Whisky turns trees black, allegedly. The fungus, dubbed ‘whisky black’, is said to be caused by microbes that feed on the ‘angel’s share’, the alcohol vapours that escape from wooden barrels as spirits mature. However, the whisky industry does not accept responsibility for the mould, pointing out that it also appears in places where there are no distilleries present.
5 At any one time, Scotland is home to more than 20 million casks of maturing whisky. That’s almost four full casks per head of population.
6 The Scottish parliament first taxed whisky in 1644.
7 The Glenfiddich bottle has a distinctive triangular shape to represent the three pillars of whisky making: water, air and barley.
8 In 2011, the first ever whisky was launched into space. Vials of molecules created at the distillery were sent to test the maturation of micro organic compounds outside of gravity. The vials spent three years on the international space station, orbiting the earth 15 times a day, before touching back down in 2014.
9 Touring our many distilleries is a particularly popular pursuit for German tourists visiting Scotland. Around 43 per cent of them stop off at one or more while holidaying in the country.
10 The first written reference to Scotch whisky was in 1495, when a monk, named John Cor, was commissioned to make ‘8 bolls of malt into Aqua Vitae’ by order of the King. Eight bolls would have been enough to make around 400 bottles of whisky.
11 Three bottles of Mackinlay whisky buried in a crate beneath a shack in the Antarctic by Ernest Shackleton were discovered by conservationists in 2010. Although the crates had frozen solid the whisky was still liquid, despite the minus 30 degree temperatures.
12 Norman Lamont, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, once carried a bottle of Highland Park in his red Budget box (the actual speech was transported in a plastic bag).
13 Scots philanthropist Andrew Carnegie requested a small keg of Dewar’s to be sent to The White House for President James Garfield, pictured left, for his inauguration. He sent the same gift to President Benjamin Harrison on his inauguration eight years later.
14 The world’s first car running on a biofuel made from whisky residue had its first successful test drive in 2017. Celtic Renewables, which worked with Tullibardine distillery, believes its whisky biofuel has huge global potential, and could create an industry in Scotland worth £100million.
15 The largest collection of Scotch whisky in the world is the Diageo Claive Vidiz collection, which contains 3,384 bottles and was gathered over 35 years by Brazilian businessman Claive Vidiz. It is now in the custody of the Scotch Whisky Experience on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.
16 World Whisky Day is celebrated in 47 countries by more than 25,000 people. In 2020, it will be held on May 16.
17 The oldest whisky in the world is a 400ml bottle of Glenavon Special Liqueur whisky, which holds the Guinness World Record. It was packaged between 1851 and 1858 and was auctioned off for £14,850 in 2006.
18 While it’s no surprise that the US is the top Scotchconsuming country in the world, you might be intrigued that other countries included in the top ten are Taiwan (6), Venezuela (9) and South Africa (7). The UK doesn’t even make the top ten.
19 Investment in rare whiskies has become lucrative recently, with whiskies outperforming wine and even gold. Macallan is the most traded brand, followed by Ardbeg and Bruichladdich.
20 John Jameson, the founder of Jameson’s Irish whiskey, was a Scot.