A payment to Friar John Cor of eight bolls of malt for making aqua vitae, recorded in the royal Exchequer accounts.
Why it mattered It shows that aqua vitae was being distilled from malt in Scotland, with royal support, by the 1490s.
DocumentedTimeline
Events in date order, with the certainty the sources allow. Select an event for its place, its consequences and its sources.
Middle Ages
c. 1494
1494-5Friar John Cor's malt, Exchequer Rolls 1494-5Kingdom of Scotland; entry in the account of the chamberlain of Fife (modern Fife, Scotland, UK)
Industrial age
1823 – 1830
1823Excise Act 1823United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (Parliament at Westminster); applied to Scotland and Ireland Uniform duty for Scotland and Ireland charged on spirit actually produced, halved to two shillings per proof gallon; bonded storage without duty until sale or export; an annual £10 licence.
Why it mattered It drew small and illicit distillers into the licensed trade; Irish distilleries rose from 40 in 1823 to 79 in 1830.
Documented1830Coffey's continuous still patentUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; Coffey was then a distiller in Dublin (modern Ireland) Patent for a continuous still with two copper columns, the analyser and the rectifier.
Why it mattered Continuous distillation of grain produced a stronger, lighter and cheaper spirit; in Scotland patent-still output passed pot-still output by 1857, and blended whisky was built on it.
Documented
Twentieth century
1909 – 1964
July 1909Royal Commission on Whiskey: "What is whisky?"United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (London) The Royal Commission on Whiskey and Other Potable Spirits defined whiskey without regard to the type of still, and set no minimum age or malt share.
Why it mattered It ended the pot-still distillers' attempt to deny the name whisky to patent-still grain spirit and blends.
Documented1920-1933US ProhibitionUnited States The Eighteenth Amendment (ratified 1919, effective 17 January 1920) and the Volstead Act banned the manufacture, sale and transport of intoxicating liquors; the Twenty-first Amendment repealed it on 5 December 1933.
Why it mattered American distilling largely stopped, and the main export market for Irish pot still whiskey closed.
Documented4 May 1964Congress declares bourbon a distinctive product of the United StatesWashington, D.C., United States Senate Concurrent Resolution 19 (78 Stat. 1208) declared bourbon a distinctive product of the United States and asked federal agencies to act to prohibit imports of whisky designated bourbon.
Why it mattered It gave bourbon the same kind of origin protection the US already gave Scotch, Canadian whisky and cognac.
Documented
Our times
2009
23 November 2009Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009United Kingdom; applies to whisky made in Scotland Statutory definition of Scotch Whisky and of Single Malt, Single Grain, Blended Malt, Blended Grain and Blended Scotch Whisky; protection of Highland, Lowland, Speyside, Campbeltown and Islay; rules on age statements and labelling.
Why it mattered It fixed the categories that appear on every Scotch label and limited regional names to whisky distilled in those places.
Documented