9 Essential Whiskey Facts To Make You Sound Like An Expert

Is there anything better than whiskey? No. No, there is not.

1. Whisky, Whiskey, so good they named it twice

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The spelling of whisky, or whiskey differs geographically. As a rule of thumb, American and Irish prefer ‘whiskey’ while Scots, Canadians and the rest of the world’s single malt producers prefer ‘whisky’.

2. The word whisky means “water of life”

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The word whisky is derived from the Gaelic word “Uisge Beatha” which means “water of life”

3. Angels steal whisky

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Whisky stored in barrels evaporates at a rate of 4% every year. This process is known as the “Angel’s Share”. Pesky thieving Angels!

4. Whisky has spawned some great quotes

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Whisky has been the source of some of the greatest quotes!

“The water was not fit to drink. To make it palatable, we had to add whisky. By diligent effort, I learnt to like it” – Sir Winston Churchill

“Too much of anything is bad, but too much of good whiskey is barely enough” – Mark Twain

“Whisky is liquid sunshine” – George Bernard Shaw

5. Think you are taxed heavily, spare a thought for whisky!

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More than 50% of the purchase price of a fifth of the whisky sold in the United States goes to taxes, federal, state and local!

6. Whisky can survive temperatures below -30 Celsius

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A crate of Mackinlay whisky dating from 1896 or 1897 was found in Antartica in 2011. Antarctica's minus 30 C temperatures were not enough to freeze the whisky

7. Whisky even has its own day

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The inaugural World Whisky Day was held in 2012 and saw over 20,000 people attend over 200 events all over the world. In 2014, World Whisky Day is on 17th May 2014 so keep your diaries free.

8. Whisky can be a great investment

Via flickr.com

The fact that whisky doesn't deteriorate in the bottle makes rare or limited release whiskies a lucrative investment opportunity. For example, the Balvenie Tun 1401 Batch 1 was released as a distillery exclusive and hit the market at £150. It now sells at auction for over £2,000.

9. Love whisky? You are in good company

Via wikipedia.org

Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, Hillary Clinton, Clark Gable and Christina Hendricks are all big whisky fans. What’s more, Humphrey Bogart’s last words were “I should never have switched from Scotch to martinis.”