Whiskey or Whisky – What's the Difference

Is it Whiskey or Whisky? Which is correct? The controversy never ceases. And it is a passionate one. It appears that the only spelling in vogue was Whisky until the 1870s, when the Irish and Americans added the now notorious “e” in the spelling making it "whiskey" so as to differentiate themselves from the Scottish who produced cheaper stuff for exports.

People sometimes get enraged by the presence of the “e” as is evident from Stanley Bruce’s lines which command that a Scotsman who spells Whisky with an ‘e’, should be hand cuffed and thrown head first in the river Dee.

While you may have no issues with either of the spellings as long as you get your Scotch and those belonging to the community of non-drinkers wouldn’t care one way or the other, there are people out there who are very particular about the spelling. You must read the article by Eric Asimov in December 4, 2008 issue of Diner’s Journal of the NY Times to appreciate how much of a controversy it can create. One called Whiskey an unforgivable error and said that it is like calling Whisky, Gin. Another called it solecism.

For the uninitiated, Whiskey has an alternative spelling, whisky; some argue that it is Whisky which has an alternative spelling Whiskey.  The favored theory is that while Whisky is what is preferred in Scotland and Canada, Whiskey is the spelling used often in the rest of the world. However there seems to be no two opinions on the absence of “e” in the Scotch whisky.

There is no objection to using Whiskey in a generic sense if Scotch is not used along with it. For the Scots, the Whiskey seems to refer to a totally different brew and does not bring Scotch whisky to their minds.

We seem to have at least one official word on the matter which is the 1968 directive of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms which confirms Whisky as the official U.S. spelling!  This directive too allows use of Whiskey in labels to continue tradition, and many of the producers there continue to use Whiskey.

Many people use simply Scotch to refer to Scotch whisky and Whisky for whiskeys produced in countries other than Scotland. It does not answer the question straight - how do you remember when to use which spelling? An easy and mostly passable way is to see if the name of the country has an “e” in it and add “e” to the spelling of Whisky and not to add the “e” in the rest of the cases. Quite a simple way, right?

Whisky produced in Scotland has the distinction of being twice distilled and aged a minimum of three years particularly in oak casks. The Irish distil thrice and age it for the same period.

Though the practices are different in other places, the Americans allow ageing in new barrels made of charred American white oak.