| 
The commercial production of Scotch whisky began more than 300 years ago when an Argyllshire farmer produced the drink in a simple device using a similar method to that of the monks who were distilling centuries earlier. Distilling alcohol from various fruit or grain was brought from China by Arab traders to the Middle East, then to Europe, most notably France where Cognac was produced from grapes. The method then travelled from France to Ireland with monks escaping pillage and persecution. They used barley instead of grapes in their process and now the Irish lay claim to having the oldest whisky distillery in the world. And from Ireland as with many other things, it came to Scotland.
In the late seventeenth century a landowner, Duncan Forbes, was granted the rights to produce whisky 'from any of the grain grown on his estate' without paying tax. When, in 1784, this 100-year-old monopoly was abolished, distilleries rapidly sprang up throughout central Scotland and began to export to England. The English war with France and high taxes forced these small lowland distilleries out of business, but the trade carried on using illicit stills. Remote Highland glens were the ideal setting to conceal the cottage industry that then sprang up, and the peat fires and pure water of the glens, used with more traditional methods, produced an even more palatable product.
In 1822 the visit of King George IV once again made whisky widely popular, and changes were made in the law reducing excise duties and encouraging legal production. Blending became an important innovation with huge vats in which whiskies were mixed to improve their flavour.
Scotland is divided into regions coinciding with the type of whisky it produces. The distilleries below a line from Dundee to Greenock produce lowland malts which are lighter with a subtle flavour best suited as aperitifs. Whisky produced above the line is considered Highland.
The east of Scotland from Dundee to Royal Loch Nagar produce a whisky whose predominant flavour is malt, although much depends on how it is casked. To the west from Speyside to Oban the whisky is very well balanced.There are, however, distinct flavours to be found in the Islays.
Speyside is the modern heart of whisky production with over 30 per cent of Scotch malt whisky such as Glenlivet, Glenfarclas, Glenfiddich and the MaCallan coming from this small area. This is where the illegal trade flourished
 .
|
