Whistory Lesson: What's in a Nam(e)?

You notice two bottles near each other and note that one proclaims itself “whisky” while the other offers “whiskey."

WHAT THE HELL? IS ONE OF THOSE A TYPO? IF SO....WHICH ONE? HOW MUCH HAVE I HAD TO DRINK THAT MY INTERNAL MONOLOGUE IS SCREAMING AT ME?

CALM DOWN. Have another drink, and breathe. There...feel better? Ok, good. We're here to help.

Irish and American spirits are called “whiskey” and the Scottish ones are “whisky”. Depending on technique, background, preference or marketing, whisk(e)ys from other countries will mix it up one way or the other.

But how was it originally spelled? And why? It's actually an interesting (w)history lesson.

“Whisky” came first. Back then, around 1405 when it was first documented in Ireland, is was called “usquebaugh” (pronounced “US-QWUH-BAW”) in Gaelic.

“But article....” you reply, “if it was first mentioned in Ireland, why are you spelling it the way the Scottish do? Once again, WHAT THE HELL?”

Before it was whisky, it was usquebaugh, which came from the Irish Gaelic “uisce beatha” or Scottish Gaelic “uisge beatha”, which was the way people up in that neck of the woods pronounced the latin term, “aqua vitae” aka THE WATER OF LIFE. Confused? Yeah I don't blame you.

Here to help you hear that in your head,  and to understand how 

it evolved into the words you slur to a bartender...

 is a video of a Scotsman saying "uisge beatha" correctly.

So “ooskee ba” became “ooskee” became “whisky”. Etymology folks! It's some crazy sh-t. So if the Irish made it first (and most historians [outside Scotland] agree they did), why did the spelling change? Well, even that historical note is up for debate. Some sources say the Irish did it to distinguish themselves from the Scottish spirit which at the time was of poorer quality.  Others point to the Scots as changing the spelling to separate their aqua vitae from it's Irish predecessor.

So dear reader, you now can confidently join the whisk(e)y loving masses, reinforced with a general state of confusion on where and why exactly the "e" gets dropped.  No one really knows why the spelling changed, and what's important is that it's not important.  At least now, you can go forth with a better understanding and an ability to identify your whiskies just by the way they spell it out.