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WHISKEY OR WHISKY?
While the answer is straight, the root of it is not, so let’s start by the easiest; this can be summarized in just a few words:
- In Ireland and in America, the spelling is: WHISKEY
- For the rest of the world, the spelling is: WHISKY
That’s it!
A few examples with the “E”, from America and Ireland:
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.27.4″ text_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” text_text_color=”#ffffff” text_font_size=”20px” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” max_width=”88%” module_alignment=”center”]And a few examples without “E”: whiskies coming from Scotland, Japan, Taiwan, France, India, Tasmania, South Africa
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.27.4″ text_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” text_text_color=”#ffffff” text_font_size=”20px” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” max_width=”88%” module_alignment=”center”]Now, of course, there are exceptions. Do you know George Dickel Tennessee, or Marker’s Mark Kentucky Bourbon?
Of course you do! But have a closer look at the way they spell whisk(e)y:
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WHERE IS THIS SPELLING DIFFERENCE COMING FROM?
It all starts in Ireland, back to the 19th century when Irish whiskey was leading the world. Yes, at the time the Irish were by far the leaders: The Middleton distillery was producing 7 times more whiskey than the largest Scottish distillery, Glenlivet at the time…
By then, whisky was spelled without “E” mostly. See some ads showing the spelling of Whisky in Ireland:
There were some distillers who used the “E” to better differentiate, but this was not the rule.
So, what happened?
To finalize the definition of whisky in the United Kingdom, and mainly to determine whether blended whisky (malt and grain) could still be called whisky, a Royal Commission on “Whiskey and other Potable Spirits” issued a report and minutes of evidence in 1908 at the request of King Edward VII.
Surprisingly, the spelling of the spirit was whiskey with “E” all along in that report…
Funnily, the next year, another report was issued with whisky spelled like it is in Scotland…
The competition between Scotch and Irish whiskies was becoming tougher, and little by little, the Irish, willing to keep their leadership through differentiation, started to use that “WHISKEY” spelling, which is now the rule in Ireland for whiskey.
What about America?
At first, the spelling of whisky was without “E”, coming from the influence of Scotland and Canada. But at the beginning of the 20th century, the image of the Irish whiskey in America was very high: quality was considered better and more refined than Canadian or Scotch whiskies, and the price was also higher. This drove the American distillers to position themselves as close as possible to these premium whiskies, and they started to spell it the way it is now.
So, does it matter? Not really! So don’t worry if you spell it one way or another…
By the way, our brand WHISKY GOURMET, is spelled without “E”, which is better for the logo, but we won’t be offended if it is spelled Whiskey Gourmet! And even if you type whiskey-gourmet.com, you’ll end up on our site!
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