Whisky

Name: Whisky

Description: Whisky (Scottish Gaelic: uisge-beatha), or whiskey (Irish: uisce beatha or fuisce), refers to a broad category of alcoholic beverages that are distilled from fermented grain mash and aged in wooden casks (generally oak).

Different grains are used for different varieties, including: barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and maize (corn). Whisky derives from the Gaelic word for "water" (uisce or uisge), and is called in full uisge-beatha (in Scotland) or uisce beatha (Ireland), meaning "Water of Life". It is related to the Latin aqua vitae, also meaning "water of life". It is always Scotch whisky, and Irish whiskey.

The first written record of whisky comes from 1405 in Ireland, where it was distilled by monks. It is also mentioned in Scotland in 1496. However it is thought that whisky had already been around for at least several hundred years prior. When or where whisky was first distilled is unknown and the local, undocumented beverage production during the period makes identification of the drink's origin difficult. Additionally, it is possible that different groups discovered processes of distillation completely independently of one another.

Some scholars believe distilled spirits were first produced between the 8th century AD and 9th century AD in the Middle East with the art of distillation being brought to Ireland and Britain by Christian monks. A popular legend is that St. Patrick introduced distillation to Ireland and Britain, however it is likely he lived around the 5th century AD. It is also possible that the distillation process was discovered in Ireland and possibly Britain (either independently or in precursor to Arabian distillation) by farmers as a way of making use of excess grain after harvest.

Chemistry
Whiskies and other distilled beverages such as cognac and rum are complex beverages containing a vast range of flavouring compounds, of which some 200 to 300 can be easily detected by chemical analysis. The flavouring chemicals include "carbonyl compounds, alcohols, carboxylic acids and their esters, nitrogen- and sulphur-containing compounds, phenolic compounds, terpenes, and oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds" and esters of fatty acids.[10] The nitrogen compounds include pyridines, picolines and pyrazines.

Health effects
The health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption (better health and longevity) commonly associated with wine appear to apply also to whisky. Many researchers now suspect that the beneficial substance is the alcohol itself — although research has not ruled out other components in the beverages as also being responsible for beneficial effects. However, excessive consumption of alcohol can harm many of the body's essential organs, particularly the liver. Furthermore, frequent consumption of strong spirits, such as whisky, significantly increases a person's chance of developing head and neck cancers.

People once thought that whisky made from barley/malt contained gluten and should be avoided on a gluten-free diet, along with beers, lagers, ales and stouts. It is now known that the distillation process removes all traces of gluten and is safe to consume on a gluten-free diet.