The earliest confirmed record of whisk(e)y production, known then as Aqua Vitae (Latin for “Water of Life”), comes from the 1405 text Annals of Clonmacnoise of Ireland.  This first account details how the liquid, used at the time for medical treatment, was responsible for the death of man on Christmas.  A sad first encounter for whiskey, indeed.

It appears non-medical applications were adopted fairly quickly as, less than a century later a Scottish account records a Kingly order to Friar Jon Cor to produce about 500 bottles of Aqua Vitae.  At this early time, Aqua Vitae was not aged, so early alcoholists only had access to was good ol’ Moonshine, just under a different name.

Also at this time, production of Aqua Vitae was controlled by monasteries until King Henry VII, among his many other acts, dissolved the monasteries altogether in the 1530s.  As a result, some former monks, seeking new work opportunities, continued their distillation practices privately, selling their distillate for personal gain.  It was almost 75 years later, in 1608, that the Old Bushmills Distillery in Northern Ireland became the world’s first officially licensed distillery.

Nearly two centuries later, across the pond in the Americas, whiskey was used as currency during the Revolution and in 1791 the infamous Whiskey Rebellion erupted in the nascent country, as a protest to taxes levied against whiskey – the first domestically produced product ever to be taxed.  The rebellion was squashed, but America’s love for whiskey, and tax on it, was cemented in the history books.

In the 1800’s, whiskey spread around the world, fueled in part by the reach of the British Empire, with localities putting their own touches and finishings on the liquid to subtly influence the taste profile.

Source: Wikipedia