An Ode to Scotch and the Land that Makes it Live

The story of scotch began about 2000 years ago when Celts from Ireland sailed over to bonnie Scotland with whisky in hand.

But the first written record of whisky in Scotland is from 1494 at the Lindores Abbey Distillery in Fife, an hour north of Edinburgh. It reads, “To brother John Cor, 8 bolls of malt, wherewith to make aqua vitae for the King.”

Aqua vitae, meaning the water of life, has been the name given to scotch for centuries.

From farmland to bog, the land of the Scots provides the perfect cocktail for the perfect drink. The barley grown and picked from the land, the peat dug up from the lush Earth, and the abundant fresh water sources are centuries old ingredients which continue to give this drink life.

But its survival hasn’t been easy. Over the centuries, the notorious taxman has tried again and again to control the production of scotch but the trend of illicit distilleries helped Scots to maintain their freedom and control the production of whisky.

From the plants that give it life, the bugs that sustain it, and the animals that maintain it, the beautiful land has continued to flourish. Through challenge after challenge, time after time, this land has stood strong, like the Scots who rely on it. Even now, with the challenges of climate change, scotch carries on.

Robert Burns wrote, “O you, my muse, good old scotch drink, inspire me till I lisp and wink, to sing your name.” And centuries later, scotch continues to inspire.

While history is unstable and often ignored, its memories eroded over time, it is not forgotten. The story of scotch has shaped the drink as we now know it; its traditions rightfully protected under law, and its essence lives on in those who maintain them.

Scotch is a rebellion, it is freedom, and more than we understand, it is justice. When unfair taxes and over-exportation endangered its survival in Scotland, Scots rebelled with illicit distilleries; when scotch became popular around the world as a man’s drink, back in Scotland women were both drinking it in abundance and helping to make it in distilleries; and finally, when the World Wars hit in the early twentieth century, distilleries all across Scotland paused the distillation of scotch and began the production of alcohol for explosives. It has and continues to inspire people to fight injustice and challenge the norm.

Scotch has seen empires come and go, kings and queens live and die, revolutions and innovations succeed and fail, but it has never lost the spirit that gives it life. Scotch brings fathers closer to their sons, mothers closer to their daughters, and dogs hoping for a snack. It truly is the water of life.