re: Scotch

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but, why do all bourbons spell it whiskey and makers spells it WHISKY like the above bottles?

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[quote]Whisky is a shortened form of usquebaugh, which English borrowed from Gaelic (Irish uisce beatha and Scottish uisge beatha). This compound descends from Old Irish uisce, "water", and bethad, "of life" and meaning literally "water of life". It meant the same thing as the Latin aqua vîtae which had been applied to distilled [quote]drinks since early 14th century. Other early spellings include usquebea (1706) and iskie bae (1583). In the Irish Annals of Clonmacnoise in 1405, the first written record of whisky appears describing the death of a chieftain at Christmas from "taking a surfeit of aqua vitae". In Scotland, the first evidence of whisky production comes from an entry in the Exchequer Rolls for 1494 where malt is sent "To Friar John Cor, by order of the king, to make aquavitae".

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