The History of Whiskey

Discover the colorful array of people and dynamic innovations that created the “water of life” in this compelling narrative.

In this beautiful volume, award-winning spirits expert Robin Robinson skillfully chronicles the development of whiskey, highlighting a hundred exceptional milestones in its history. The journey begins in antiquity with the simple covered pot and alembic. In the Middle Ages, monks distilled spirits to make medicine. After King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, whiskey distillation shifted from clergy to farmers. Over the centuries, taxes and prohibition took their toll, even sparking the Whiskey Rebellion in the early years of American independence. In the 1700s and 1800s, as the British Empire colonized the globe, waves of European emigrants brought whiskey to Canada, Australia, India, Japan, and elsewhere. Surveying the evolution of Scotch, the birth of bourbon and rye, and the importance of family ties, quality control, corporatization, and marketing, this comprehensive compendium details the global impact of the beverage conglomerates, the world’s most expensive Scotch, the 2011 curveball of aging bourbon in ex-port barrels, and more. Richly illustrated with bottle shots and captivating archival imagery, it makes a splendid, inviting tribute to your favorite dram.