Talk:Scotch whisky

Representative image should not show a branded glass

It implies that this is "the" Scotch and should probably not be used if an unmarked Glencairn, other tumbler, or nosing glass could be used. It looks bad anyway with its white background in the slightly darker box.

Some alternatives: [1], [2], [3], [4]

--79.202.110.26 (talk) 17:21, 7 April 2019 (UTC)

Thanks and agree, personally preferring image #4 (for choosing images, one can dispute if scotch should be consumed with ice! ;>) --Zefr (talk) 17:33, 7 April 2019 (UTC)

Picturing a Glencairn glass could be construed as an endorsement of Glencairn. Personally, I would suggest a simple rocks glass (without the ice). —BarrelProof (talk) 23:50, 7 April 2019 (UTC)

Also agreed, Glencairn is probably not a good idea. I've just spent half an hour looking for suitable images that are properly licensed and certain to show actual Scotch, not generic whisk(e)y or a mock-up fluid, but it turns out harder than I thought. I'll keep an eye open. --79.202.110.26 (talk) 13:44, 8 April 2019 (UTC)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dvanzuijlekom/9339930772 is CC BY-SA 2.0 of a tumbler with neat Scotch. I could crop that if it's agreed to be suitable. Maybe someone could ask the photographer about the brand for the Wikimedia commons details? I personally don't have a Flickr account. --79.202.110.26 (talk) 13:59, 8 April 2019 (UTC)

That looks good to me (no expertise on copyright or Tumblr though). —BarrelProof (talk) 15:55, 9 April 2019 (UTC)

I found a non-branded photo in the Single malt whisky article (see at right below), and replaced the one in the article with it. —BarrelProof (talk) 05:21, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Labelling

The paragraph on Labelling in the Wikipedia article on Scotch Whisky runs like so : A Scotch whisky label comprises several elements that indicate aspects of production, age, bottling, and ownership. Some of these elements are regulated by the SWR,[7] and some reflect tradition and marketing.[8] The spelling of the term "whisky" is often debated by journalists and consumers. Scottish, English, Welsh, Australian and Canadian whiskies use "whisky", Irish whiskies use "whiskey", while American and other styles vary in their spelling of the term.[9] The references are to MacLean 2010 (7 & 8)and Jackson 2010 (9) resp.

There have been many new entrants to the Whisky market this last decade. Nick Hines, in an article titled Why Is Whiskey Spelled Differently in Different Countries? makes a few interesting observations:

• It all comes down to location, i.e. the United States and Ireland spell it “whiskey,” while the rest of the world spells it “whisky.”
• One good tool to remember: Countries with an “e” in their name (United States, Ireland) use the “e” while countries without an “e” (Scotland, Japan, India) do not.
• Ireland and Scotland were the first countries to produce whiskey(?), or “uisge beatha” (water of life), pronounced ooishke baa. . Over time, it became known as whiskey. In the Irish dialect, that meant an “ey” to end the word, and in the Scottish dialect that meant only a “y.”
• Colonisation: Places colonised by the English ( nearly half the world) drew their whisky knowledge from the whisky they were sent, which was primarily Scotch.
• In 1791, the U.S. govt officially passed the 1791 Excise Whiskey Tax that led to 1794’s Whiskey Rebellion. This marked the birth of the added 'e' in whisky, making it whiskey.
• The influx of Irish immigrants to the U.S. due to famine in the 1800s led to a larger Irish than Scottish influence in America. Whiskey! Scotland and England maintained sway over how the rest of the whisky-drinking world spelled the spirit. Whisky!
  
  

Perhaps a couple of countries could be added to the list, though they are not covered by MacLean and Jackson. Moitraanak (talk) 19:11, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

References

All of this "e or no e" stuff is myth and urban legend with no basis, as is already covered at the whisky article. It certainly doesn't belong in this article, which is specifically about scotch whisky and should talk about the spelling of Irish whiskey at all (btw, the Irish used the no-E spelling too historically, which is why the whole thing is a load of nonsense. oknazevad (talk) 19:21, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

There are several errors in this section. The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has made some changes in the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 (SWR) effective 2019. The spelling of the term whisky is often debated by journalists and consumers. Scotland and almost every country colonised by the British in their heydays still spell it whisky, whereas Ireland, Peru and Mexico spell it whiskey and the principal importer of Scotch whisky, the USA, mostly spells it whiskey. This line: "In addition to requiring that Scotch whisky be distilled in Scotland, the SWR requires that it also be bottled and labelled in Scotland," is incorrect. The Scotch Whisky Association mandates that single malt whiskies be distilled, matured, bottled and labelled in Scotland. Blended Scotch whisky, however, may be bottled by an importer, who will then indicate on the label and carton the country of bottling and labelling and the date of bottling, among other marketing details. This was an extremely effective marketing ploy to circumvent the levy of steep import duty. Moitraanak (talk) 21:05, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

The writer has evidently understood that the spirit while maturing in the cask may not be called anything other than 'new make.' Only when the cask is finally opened at or after three years can its contents be called whisky. This clarification should come in some other section. So also the fact that the term Scotch has a history in itself. Gavin Smith notes in his book A-Z of Whisky(3rd edition) "The first use of Scotch with the sense of specifically relating to whisky occurs in 1855, 'while malt liquors give our Scotch and Irish whiskies,'” thus dating the origin of the term 'Scotch' as definitive of Scotch whisky.Moitraanak (talk) 16:41, 18 October 2021 (UTC)

References

In my opinion, "Scotch and Irish whiskies" is not clearly using "Scotch" as a noun. It could simply be a pair of adjectives attached to the same noun, like "black and white stripes" for a zebra. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 23:37, 18 October 2021 (UTC)

With Both Spellings Whisky & Whiskey Acceptable, How The Scots Selected Whisky

Aqua vitae (‘water of life’ in Latin) was the generic term for concentrated aqueous solution of ethanol throughout the Roman Empire, widely used during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and translated into many languages. In Gaelic, it was uisge beatha, in Irish uisce beatha. Whisky connoisseur Charles MacLean says that this was Anglicised from uiskie (c.1618) to whiskie (1715) to whisky (1746) . F Paul Pacult, author of ‘A Double Scotch’, 2005, says that Aqua Vitae ultimately became whisky in 1736.

The spelling Whiskey was equally common in those days. In fact, the Hansard of 1896 uses the term Whiskey. The report of the Royal Commission on Whiskey and Other Potable Spirits (1908/09) spelt both Irish and Scotch with an ‘e’ throughout. Interestingly, it was the Irish Association headed by the 'Big Four' of Irish Whiskey (John Jameson & Son, John Power & Son, George Roe & Co. and Willam Jameson & Co.) who argued-in vain- before the Commission that their spirit was better than that distilled in Scotland and that the correct spelling was 'Whisky', to differentiate it from the inferior Scottish and English 'Whiskey'. This argument had started in 1863, when blending of grain whisky with malt whisky in bond was permitted across the industry (1860 for licensed distillers/brewers). The Irish found it unsettling that such a bland and relatively tasteless product could even be called whisky/whiskey. In a bid to disbar spirit obtained from grains using Coffey or patent/column stills from the whisky regime, they launched a book, Truths about Whisky, in 1878, a diatribe against that spirit which they refused to call whisky/whiskey. The final decision of 2009, 31 years later, went against the Irish, which gigantic industry, for numerous reasons was falling apart at the seams. By then, blended Scotch whisky had taken the world by storm. In a paradox of sorts, the waning Irish industry settled on whiskey, to differentiate their product from Scotch whisky.

Gavin Smith notes in his book A-Z of Whisky(3rd edition) "The first use of Scotch with the sense of specifically relating to whisky occurs in 1855, 'while malt liquors give our Scotch and Irish whiskies,'” thus dating the origin of the term 'Scotch' as definitive of Scotch whisky.

At least 82 nations/nation states around the globe are trying their hand at making and selling whisky. Of these countries, all but four spell Aqua Vitae ‘whisky’. The term ‘whiskey’ is used in Ireland (since 1960), Mexico and Peru and for most, but not all, American brands.

Albania, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Corsica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Ivory Coast, Japan, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tasmania, The Philippines, Uruguay, Vietnam, Wales, Zimbabwe, Zambia & possibly a couple more spell it Whisky. North Korea is a unique case-the label/carton is indecipherable, except for volume and strength which bear English numerals, leaving the choice of spelling of the spirit known as Samilpo whisky to the author of the moment.

While such a predominance of whisky over whiskey makes a compelling argument that whisky should be the global spelling, it must be noted, however, that the spelling is by convention or tradition and not by law. The Scottish version (Scotch) uses the term whisky.

Comments/additions etc. are welcome.Moitraanak (talk) 11:55, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

References

Both spellings are acceptable for whisk(e)y. But this article is about Scotch Whisky, and, in Scotland, it is currently always spelled without the 'e'. While American and Irish Whiskey is basically always spelled with an 'e'.

You wrote on my talk page: The talk page article was clearly marked TBC (...) For starters, a talk page is not an article, it is a place where we discuss what should and shouldn't go in an article and how to write it. Please check WP:TALK. If you're trying things out, do it in your sandbox, not in talk pages. Back to my comment, which you removed (and shouldn't have, per WP:TALKO): the article is about Scotch whisky, which is a specific type of whisky. You might want to contribute your piece about etymology and so on to the whisky article. BTW, your references are missing the {{ }} symbols around the "cite" templates. I'm not sure if you did it on purpose or what. If what you're proposing is a new section about all this stuff, you should never just copy-paste it from a blog (is it your blog? it kind of looks like it is) and then make small changes and add references. Wikipedia isn't your blog. VdSV9•♫ 14:18, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

Your input makes sense now. It is suited to the article on Whisky. I need to correct the ref format anon.Moitraanak (talk) 14:26, 18 October 2021 (UTC)

Suggested Corrections To History In The Article

Consider these lines (1) Between the 1760s and the 1830s a substantial unlicensed trade originated from the 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. This needs review. Gavin D. Smith, writing in the Whisky Magazine, Issue 19, says that there were more than 14,000 detections of illicit operations in 1823.

(2) A farmer, George Smith, working under landlord the Duke of Gordon, was the first person in Scotland[19] to take out a licence for a distillery under the new Act, founding the Glenlivet Distillery in 1824, to make single malt Scotch. // This is correct, but there could be some emphasis on the fact that The Glenlivet was the first to open after the 1823 Act was published. The first legal distillery in Scotland, Ferintosh, accounted for two-thirds of the whisky produced in the country by the late 1760s.

(3) Second, there was a shortage of wine, brandy, and cognac in France, significant by 1880, due to the phylloxera bug, a parasitic insect, destroying many of the wine vines. This is incomplete. They were actually struck by three tragic malaises that would cripple the wine industry, and its related brandy industry. The first blow was Odium in 1863, a fungus that causes powdery mildew on grapes and originated in North America. The disease was crippling, but not devastating; it would significantly reduce wine production. This mildew was being brought under control when, in 1868, the second wave of insect-borne lice struck the weakened industry. This was the Phylloxera epidemic, caused by an aphid, or the grape louse, which attacked and destroyed the roots of the domesticated grapevines in Europe. What followed was a catastrophe. In 1883, “Downy” mildew was the third tragedy to hit the European wine industry, which came while the French were still looking for a cure for Phylloxera. The industry recovered in about a lustrum thereafter. But the damage had been done.

TBC

Moitraanak (talk) 13:56, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

Spam bait at Blended section

The list of brands here is prone to WP:SPAMBAIT, as another brand was just added to the list. I think two or three examples is sufficient. Pyrrho the Skipper (talk) 17:34, 25 April 2022 (UTC)

References