Frequently Asked Questions about Scotch and Whisky

Where does the term Scotch Whisky come from?

The Gaelic "usquebaugh", meaning "Water of Life", phonetically became "usky" and then "whisky" in English. However it is known - Scotch Whisky, Scotch, or Whisky (or whiskey in Ireland and the USA), it has captivated a global market. Scotland has internationally protected the term "Scotch". For a whisky to be labelled Scotch it has to be produced in Scotland. If it is to be called Scotch, it cannot be produced in England, Wales, Ireland, America or anywhere else. Excellent whiskies are made by similar methods in other countries, notably Japan, but they cannot be called Scotches. OK. It’s not Scotch Whisky. But it sure tastes like it…

What is the difference between Single Malt Scotch, Blended Scotch, etc?

Scotch whisky is divided into four distinct categories: single malt, vatted malt (also called "pure malt"), blended, and single grain. In 2005, the Scotch Whisky Association released new guidelines for nomenclature. Many in the industry feel that the new guidelines do little to clarify confusion among consumers, and some believe they create new confusion.

There are two major categories, single and blended. Single means that all of the product is from a single distillery, while Blended means that the product is composed of whiskies from two or more distilleries.

Single malt whisky is a 100% malted barley whisky from one distillery.

Single grain whisky is a grain whisky from one distillery (it does not have to be made from a single type of grain).

Vatted or Blended malt whisky is a malt whisky created by mixing single malt whiskies from more than one distillery.

Blended grain whisky is a whisky created by mixing grain whiskies from more than one distillery.

Blended Scotch whisky is a mixture of single malt whisky and grain whisky, usually from multiple distilleries.

Shelter Point Distillery will initially produce traditional single malt whisky from barley grown, malted, and distilled on the Evandale Farm on Vancouver Island. The company will also carry a number of other products including private label blends of imported Scotch, Cream Whiskey liquers, and other distilled products from the growing Vancouver Island wine industry.

When was the first Scotch produced?

"Eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor wherewith to make aqua vitae"

The entry above appeared in the Exchequer Rolls as long ago as 1494 and appears to be the earliest documented record of distilling in Scotland. This was sufficient to produce almost 1500 bottles, and it becomes clear that distilling was already a well-established practice.

Legend has it St Patrick introduced distilling to Ireland in the fifth century AD and the secrets traveled with the Dalriadic Scots when they arrived in Kintyre around AD500. St Patrick acquired the knowledge in Spain and France, countries that might have known the art of distilling at that time.

The distilling process was originally applied to perfume, then to wine, and finally adapted to fermented mashes of cereals in countries where grapes were not plentiful. The spirit was universally termed aqua vitae ('water of life') and was commonly made in monasteries, and chiefly used for medicinal purposes, being prescribed for the preservation of health, the prolongation of life, and for the relief of colic, palsy and even smallpox. There were monastic distilleries in Ireland in the late-12th century.

The first Shelter Point 10 year old single malt could be ready by 2017.

Why did early Scotch lovers go to see the barber?

Scotland's great Renaissance king, James IV (1488-1513) was fond of 'ardent spirits'. When the king visited Dundee in 1506, the treasury accounts record a payment to the local barber for a supply of aqua vitae for the king's pleasure. The reference to the barber is not surprising. In 1505, the Guild of Surgeon Barbers in Edinburgh was granted a monopoly over the manufacture of aqua vitae - a fact that reflects the spirits perceived medicinal properties as well as the medicinal talents of the barbers.

The primitive equipment used at the time and the lack of scientific expertise meant that the spirit produced in those days was probably potent, and occasionally even harmful. During the course of the 15th century, along with better still design, the dissolution of the monasteries contributed to an improvement in the quality of the spirits produced.

Many of the monks, driven from their sanctuaries, had no choice but to put their distilling skills to use. The knowledge of distilling then quickly spread to others.

It won’t be barbers making our whisky but we will be keen to experiment with our whisky’s medicinal powers. There may be one or two retired monks with surgical degrees.

How can a drink define a nation?

'Whisky and freedom gang thegither' wrote Robert Burns. Scottish history is much to do with 'freedom' - independence from England and centralised authority; independence of mind (one of the reasons why the country has produced such a phenomenal number of inventors and 'Fathers of' so many sciences); independence of spirit.

The increasing popularity of distilled spirits eventually attracted the attention of the Scottish parliament, which introduced the first taxes on malt and the end product in the latter part of the 17th century. Ever increasing rates of taxation were applied following The Act of Union with England in 1707, when England set out to tame the rebellious clans of Scotland. The distillers were driven underground.

A long and often bloody battle arose between the excisemen, or gaugers, as they were known, and the illicit distillers, for whom the excise laws were alien in both their language and their inhibiting intent. Smuggling became standard practice for some 150 years and there was no moral stigma attached to it. Ministers of the Kirk (church) made storage space available under the pulpit, and the illicit spirit was, on occasion, transported by coffin - any effective means was used to escape the watchful eyes of the Excise men.

Clandestine stills were cleverly organised and hidden in nooks and crannies of the heather-clad hills, and smugglers organised signaling systems from one hilltop to another whenever excise officers were seen to arrive in the vicinity. By the 1820s, despite the fact that as many as 14,000 illicit stills were being confiscated every year, more than half the whisky consumed in Scotland was being swallowed painlessly and with pleasure, without contributing a penny in duty.

This flouting of the law eventually prompted the Duke of Gordon, on whose extensive acres some of the finest illicit whisky in Scotland was being produced, to propose in the House of Lords that the Government should make it profitable to produce whisky legally.

In 1823 the Excise Act was passed, which sanctioned the distilling of whisky in return for a license fee of £10, and a set payment per gallon of proof spirit. Smuggling died out almost completely over the next ten years and, in fact, a great many of the present day distilleries stand on sites used by smugglers of old.

Shelter Point Distillery received an agreement in principal to set up their operation from the British Columbia government in 2006. We may have to smuggle our whisky back to Scotland one day.

Information used in the above FAQs has been gathered from a number of sources including Wikipedia.