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Article: whiskey
- Article from:
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
CopyrightThe Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information)
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whiskey [from the Gaelic for "water of life" ], spirituous liquor distilled from a fermented mash of grains, usually rye, barley, oats, wheat, or corn. Inferior whiskeys are made from potatoes, beets, and other roots. The standard whiskeys of the world are Scotch (commonly spelled
whisky
), Irish, American, and Canadian. The Scotch Highland whisky (made in pot stills) and that of the Lowlands (patent stills) differ in the percentage of barley used, quality of the water, quantity of peat employed in curing the malt, manner of distilling, and kind of casks in which they are matured. Irish whiskey resembles Scotch, but no peat is used in the curing, and instead of the dry, somewhat smoky ...