If we talk about the origination of Whisky, there are claims but ain’t any certain answer to that. Scottish and Irish have their claims to be the land where whisky was born.
There are stories surrounding it that claims Irish brought the art of distillation to Scotland. On the other hand there’s a claim, the first reference of whisky that was recorded was in Exchequer Rolls of 1494. According to this, the malt was sent to a guy named Friar John Cor to produce aquavitae (meaning, water of life), and thus the Scots claim.
Whisky or Whiskey ?
Notwithstanding, the difference between Whisky and Whiskey isn’t just of a letter, but there’s more to it. It is clear that the whisky first came to be introduced to the world by either Scots or Irish, but the original scotch whisky spelled ‘Whisky’ and so as to differ themselves, the American Bourbon, they added an extra ‘E’ to whisky, making it ‘Whiskey’. Now if you notice, its ‘Whisky’ for scotch and ‘Whiskey’ for Irish and American Bourbon. Apart from this, there’s a difference in the make as well. Scotch is made of malted barley, while the Bourbon distilled from corns and the Irish is distilled from grains.
In England, if you ask for whisky, you will be served with scotch, in Ireland you will be served with Irish whiskey and in America you will be served with bourbon.
There are several more nations producing whiskeys now, with Japanese being one of the most significant other than the Scotts, Irish and Americans. However, India is the largest consumer of whisky/whiskey in the world. India also has its own whiskey brands. The first of several single malts being produced in India is ‘Amrut‘, that came into existence in 2004.