Whiskey or Whisky? The Water of Life Etymology
To 'E' or not to 'E'
Why do Scotch distillers spell 'whiskey' without the 'e', while American distillers do? This question comes up all the time in the tasting room and on tours, and the answer I've heard and given in the past is simple: Because. Just because. Great Britain, Canada and Japan spell it 'whisky,' while America and Ireland stick to 'whiskey.' Tradition and that's it. But that's a terrible answer, right? Can we know the real reason to 'e' or not to 'e'?
What in the word
First, a brief, less-than-scholarly etymology of whiskey. According to A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, the word comes from 'usquebaugh,' an Anglicized version of the term 'uisge beatha' from Middle Irish and Scottish Gaelic, which literally means 'water of life' and referred to a distilled spirit from fermented grains. Versions of 'usquebaugh' begin to appear in English in the 16th century, and variations are seen into the 18th and 19th centuries.
The term continued mutating in English so that the 'baugh' or 'beatha' was eventually dropped in favor of simply 'usque' or 'uisge'. It's worth noting that Modern Irish also dropped the second word and simply uses “uisce'. In an ironic twist, this word shares its roots with our English word 'water' and the Slavic word 'voda' (yes, that's where 'vodka' ultimately derives – meaning 'little water'). Over the centuries, it was borrowed into English to represent the distilled spirit made from grains in the areas we now call Ireland and Scotland.
Please, if you're not snoozing yet, fast forward with me to the 19th century and early 20th century. Most whiskey around this time is sold under the 'whisky' spelling, but as The Whisky Professor at scotchwhisky.com notes “the extra ‘e’ was being flung around as if at a rave in the 1990s.” Brilliant metaphor and it highlights the real issue – chaos.
There were few rules and regulations, and no conventions or precedent to fall back on.
It's possible to blame the different spellings of the Middle Irish ('uisce') and the Scottish Gaelic ('uisge') words, leading to different translations, but there doesn't appear to be hard evidence for that theory.
Blame the Irish?
In the mid-19h century, Irish whiskey was ascendant, growing in popularity, and supposedly becoming known for its superior quality. The Irish distillers output 10 million gallons per year at their peak, the most in the world, to meet the demand for their whiskey.
Around this time, it's believed that Irish distillers began to include the 'e' as a way to distinguish their product from other inferior ones, that is, as a marketing effort. However, according to scotchwhisky.com, a manifesto against grain whiskey written by the very Irish distillers who were apparently adding the 'e' to distinguish themselves, used 'whisky' exclusively throughout. Further, the Cork brand, Paddy, only added the 'e' in the 1960s. Eventually, the Irish stuck to 'whiskey'. You might think that the Scots were more consistent, but no. According to The Whisky Professor, the Royal Commission of 1908 made a report that used 'whiskey' throughout.
I suppose that we don't really know right now what truly caused the Irish to stick with the 'e' and the Scots to forego it. Can we discern why America went with the more Irish spelling? We did have millions of Irish immigrants in the late 19th century and early 20th century (while Canada has historic ties to Scotland and prefers 'whisky'). But that elides the century or more of distilling history in the USA that came before major Irish immigration. I think it's dubious, but an easy and comforting answer, which are sometimes the best.
Whisk(e)y is the Water of Life
The Romans called concentrated alcohol 'aqua vitae' or water of life. That term became 'akvavit' in Scandinavia, 'eau de vie' in France, and 'uisge beatha' in Gaelic, among other terms that have the same meaning. No matter how we decide to spell whiskey, it's rooted in a tradition that is about conviviality, common experience, and ingenuity for the sake of pleasure and happiness. From Scotland to Ireland, Canada to America, and India to Japan, whiskey is whisky is usquebaugh is uisce beatha. Who cares about an 'e'?
-Written by Ryan Blackwell