Try a bottle of Aberfeldy Scotch here: bit.ly/drinkinghistorybottles Also, I recorded this only days before Queen Elizabeth II passed and have left my mention of her in as a future reminder to myself of where I was at the time.
It's surely a trip of the ages for you. It would be appropriate for you to have a gin and tonic to toast The Queen. She did have one or two on occasion.
Hey Max, you should do a vid on bourbon sometime. Interesting history behind America's spirit, anything from charred fish barrels to the conflicts between the different distilleries in Kentucky
I would be very interested in your opinion of Ardmore whisky: it went from a purely blending whisky to a full blown single malt in the space of about 20 years and my _god_ it's peated out of it's mind!
@@TastingHistory The Queen had been summering in Balmoral for 95 years. Glad you got to visit while she was still in residence, even if it was only for a few days. Literally the experience of a lifetime.
Interesting factoid: I'm in Missouri and we actually do a lot of trade with Scotland. Making oak barrels for Scottish distilleries is actually a large business in the Ozarks. The Scots depleted their oak forests centuries ago and now must import their barrels in from North America. The oak barrels from Missouri also end up in the bourbon distilleries in Kentucky and Tennessee. 😀
Not just the fact that we depleted our oak forests, but a lot of the barrels you guys make go through the bourbon industry first. Therefore, Scotch whisky gets some of that lovely bourbon flavour from the barrel. So, on behalf of a lover of bourbon cask whisky, I thank your state for its service!
Yeah, bourbon legally requires fresh barrels every time, but after that there is still lots of life to get out of them, so they will get sent around, lots to Ireland and Scotland, to be used there, because Irish and Scotch whisky don't have that barrel requirement. Sherry barrels are another common thing for this.
@@DrBrangar yeah a lot distilleries in Scotland "loan out" barrels to Bourbon distillers and Sherry to "break them in" before being brought to Scotland for scotch
@@DrBrangar There are even more, I bought some nice Port barrel aged Glenmorangie last time I was in Scotland and Madeira barrels are used as well. Bourbon barrels are probably most common though followed by new barrels, they add a little extra flavor and are cheap to buy so win-win. Oaks are not that common anymore in Great Britain, the Royal Navy spent a few hundred years cutting them down and instead of replanting them everywhere, a lot were instead cleared for farming after the large oaks were cut down. Particularly Scotland have very few trees today even though there is a replanting program in some parts of the country. Early bronze age Scotland was a very different looking place.
You have to make a drinking history about the Port wine... :D there's so much to explore there. If you ever visit Portugal, there are 2 museums dedicated to Port wine - one dedicated to the storage and sale of the fortified wine in Vila Nova de Gaia (just across the river from Porto), and another dedicated to the production of the wine itself, from the agricultural process to the production of the wine itself, and the process of shipping it downriver to Vila Nova de Gaia - this museum is called the Douro Museum and it's located in Peso da Régua, inland from Porto.
@@TastingHistory As a Portuguese (and Porto city) native, I'll be glad to show you around. Please let me know if you ever visit Porto. Is there any way I can contact you via private message or mail? So that I can share my contact information?
@@TastingHistory And while you are there, how about a lil' episode about Bacalhau à Brás, to go with your wine? And if you ever go south, try the Licor de Medronho e Mel from Algarve. Pretty tasty dessert drink, imho.
I live in Moray, which has the highest concentration of distilleries in Scotland, and my husband works in one, and yes we do get an allowance of free whisky! so I really enjoyed this episode.
Here in Scandinavia, aqua vite (akvavit) is a predominately dill-flavoured herb-infused vodka at 30-35%! It's also got a centuries long history, dating back to a Danish noble sending a letter and a bottle to a Norwegian bishop, urging him to try this "life water" to alleviate him from his illnesses!
@@cvdirecto5008 the more the merrier, maybe if we get enough people onboard we'll eventually pick up someone that can actually speak the native languages
Should have gone the other way. Like catching your kid smoking and forcing them to smoke the rest of the pack one after another in a way to make them sick and never smoke again....
@@rw-xf4cb That backfired with a few of my friends. Even the one whose father bought a carton of cigarettes and made her smoke them all. One was even forced to eat a pack of cigarettes. It's been 30 years and they all still smoke.
Ian Tamblyn has a nice song called "The Angel's Share" which is what people call the part of the whiskey that evaporates through the cask before bottling. Some small percentage every year. I remember hearing him sing it on a ship in the Hebrides many years ago now. Its why it gets mellower with aging in the cask up to a point...
@@TastingHistory, good and inspiring teachers are simply that, no matter what they are teaching; Bruce came into this with a background of both teaching high school physics and doing stand-up! I have been following his channel as long as I’ve been following yours.
I noticed you commented on the phylloxera epidemic of the 1800s. It might be interesting for you to do an episode on how Missouri vineyards saved France from the phylloxera epidemic because Missouri wines were resistant to the plague. It’s a very interesting story that involves Thomas Jefferson France and history. Love your channel
I really wouldn't mind if you made more of this kind of history only content on cooking. The depth of research and you delivery of it is extremely entertaining.
If you ever come to Philadelphia to explore cheesesteaks or scrapple or even shoo-fly pie, come to New Hope! We're where Washington crossed the Delaware. (Coryell's Ferry was the original name.) I'll make sure to show you around!
This was awesome. And believe me, the public wants more. Come back to europe when you can, though I believe a Mexican history on tortillas and tequila and mezcal come first
My favourite part of this video was the "medicinal" section. When we were little and came down with colds, Grandma would run to pour us kids a capful of Whisky. She swore it would kill the sickness!
I used to get hot black tea with honey and whisky when I was down with a bad cold as a child. Only before bed, with vicks vaporub, and it sure had us kids sleeping soundly, and generally waking up not too sick any more. A little sniffly, but not as bad and coughy as the night before.
There really is something about getting a good night of sleep for healing. I'm not suggesting you give a hot toddy to your kids when they're sick, but not everything older generations did was not helpful. I don't give my kids whiskey cough syrup, but I do for myself.
I remember getting a cold at my grandparents’ house & my grandpa giving me a shot of whisky & honey, I was absolutely terrified I was going to get in trouble for it 😂
1. Thanks for introducing us to Bruce, at Scottish History Tours. I'm descended of Clan Donald and am having a blast learning about my distant ancestors. 2. In college, 30 years ago, an English Lit teacher told us that mid-twentieth century popular fiction in the US used Scotch as a "woman's drink" to either indicate a provocative female character or to indicate a "less than masculine" man. I would expect Scots to scoff at the notion, and this old queen prefers Bourbon anyway, but I wondered if that might be a subject to explore sometime, here. Thanks for keeping us engaged and learning!
It's funny, when I bartended at a dive, Scotch was the preferred drink of old ladies. I don't get it. Whiskey always seemed to be considered the "manly man" drink, and Scotch, especially a super peaty one, seemed like a very refined taste, but...eh, no accounting for dumbass stereotypes. I love a good peaty Scotch, a smooth Irish whisky, and I *love* a good Pennsylvania Rye...but I can't stand bourbon, or any sour mash, really. Just tastes sweet and rotten. You'd think that would be a woman's drink.
@@clobberelladoesntreadcomme9920 It was only older ladies, ones who tended to be overdressed for the joint. Younger women, by and large, preferred the sweet mixed drinks.
It's awesome to see you coming to Scotland! That Eilean donan castle you showed used to be garrisoned by my ancestors. Have you been enjoying your stay?
True story: my wife and I decided to enjoy a dram while watching your video, so I poured us a couple glasses and pressed play. By pure coincidence, the whisky we were drinking was . . . Aberlour! So, sláinte, sir! You gave us a delightful flashback to our own jaunt along the Whisky Trail back in 2008. An aside, but please tell me you've learned about the drunk Highland cows! As my great-aunt from Aberdeenshire told us, "People say the Scots are frugal, but I think we're just canny." Canny, indeed!
Whisky in Ireland has an e in it in order to note it apart from scotland because in scotland they can use a continuous still for the base alcohol where in ireland it has to be from pot stills, if you can get a bottle of yellow spot from ireland, or poteen if you can.
16:00 the English (and I say that rather than British very carefully) government really never learned did they? In the Raj cobras were a pest, and so the government offered a bounty for every head turned in. Unsurprisingly, this just led to people breeding cobras just to hand in for cash after a while they cottoned on and stopped handing out the bounties at which point the cobras were all turned loose and the problem was worse than at the start!
@@tams805 because this specific anecdote was about colonial rule in India. Whilst the government was nominally British, it was (and continues to be) overwhelmingly dominated by the English to the extent that even if all the other constituent countries of the UK's MP's disagreed with the English MP's, the English ones would get their way
Wow! If you dig deeper you'll find that my state (Missouri) has played a huge role in the Scottish whisky industry and the French wine industry. Besides Missouri supply Scottish distilleries with oak barrels today, Missouri also rescued the French wine industry from phyllozera. In the late 1800s a region of Missouri about 100 miles southwest of St Louis was known as the "Little Rhine" where German immigrants had planted vineyards. It was the Napa Valley of the 1800s. Long story short: Grape vine cuttings from Missouri were sent to France to help reestablish the vineyards that were diseased. Those vines are still producing French wine today.
@@jjudy5869 That could be a whole episode of Tasting History. Up until Prohibition the region around Hermann, Missouri, was the wine capital of the US. Prohibition killed it. But after Prohibition was lifted many of the winemakers from Missouri moved to California and started Napa Valley. They brought the knowledge of winemaking and the grapevine clippings to California and made it what it is today. Forgotten history: The ties between Missouri and California in the US wine industry.
First, RIP HRM Queen Elizabeth II - even as an American, her passing is so sad. Second, love how a pokemon still made it into an episode being filmed in a busy restaurant
My Grandmother was a Dewar, and that’s my middle name! 😊. The Dewars that are my ancestors came to NC a long time ago…like before the civil war. One day I would love to travel to Scotland. Thanks for taking us along, Max. 😊
Looking forward to the Macbeth vid! Never went to Balmoral when I visited Scotland loooong ago, my fondest memory was visiting Loch Ness and the Bannockburn where Robert the Bruce led the Scots to victory over the English (against King Edward the second I think?). Enjoy yer trip Mr Max! 😁
These teetotallers have done so much for whisky. Not only David Lloyd George was one and he improved it by forcing it's ageing, but the most famous person in the (blended) whisky circles also was.
10:00 Latitude does affect how drunk one gets. It is more difficult to get drunk in higher altitudes... So, when drinking the usual amount, highlanders would appear/be more drunk in lower altitude (lowlands).While the lowlanders would be able to drink more than their usual in higher altitudes without getting as drunk. hence the double/reverse thinking/theorising
Aqua vita or Akevitt as its called here is a spirit which vaguely matches the description of early Whisky. A ~40% distilled spirit, but which here is usually made on potatoes, but maybe also on other grains. But it is usually spiced with either caraway or dill. But maybe also i.e. anis or fennel. Also by here i mean Norway
Thank you yet again for an amazing video! I'm actually about to go to Scotland in a few weeks so I can try some Whisky at some Scottish distilleries for the first time. I've been planning my trip to the UK for months, and it was so sad to hear the passing of Her Majesty the Queen right before my trip. I leave tomorrow for London, and at least this way I get to pay my respects. Thank you so much for another great video, it made me so much more excited to try Whisky in Scotland for the first time!
I live in the same village as Bruce Fummey & he's a real character. Also an excellent tour guide, stand up comedian & TH-camr. Hope he took you to our local distillery while you were here? Must say I'm a Speyside fan as opposed to the peaty Island whiskies. While Malts are usually preferable there is the odd blend which wasn't bad, unfortunately the best of them "Bailie Nicol Jarvie" has been discontinued & it was better than some Malts. We do still use it medicinally, still say there's no better way to cast off a stinking cold than a good hot toddy [whisky, honey, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, lemon juice & hot water. Dosage is drink & repeat...often] When I still lived further North I liked to bruise a couple of juniper berries from the tree outside & place them in my glass, added a nice taste to an already lovely drink. It used to be a relatively common practice in parts of Scotland. Hope you had a good visit to Scotland & 'Haste ye back'.
Speyside are the best! And Aberlour is one of the best of the Speysides :D I had a lovely 22 year old Tamdhu cask strength half bottle gifted to me a few years ago, I used it very sparingly but it’s all gone now. It was supremely smooth, nicely spicy, and had so much depth.
@@TastingHistory Oh looking forward to that. I'm very lucky having him on the doorstep, great quality meat & service. Hope you had a chance to try one of his skirrlie topped pies?😋
this was a really great story/history presentation. Maybe it's bc I'm halfway thru a dry-September, but this is among my favorite episodes. Proves the channel's great format, even on the road.
that moment when your historical drinking video becomes a super tight record of a moment in history I hope you are able to enjoy your trip even with the very different nature of what you expected.
About the Aqua Vitae, in French some strong transparent liquors are called "Eau de Vie" (even if they're not whisky), meaning the exact same thing, so there might be a correlation. I never knew why they were called like that!
I've been learning Scottish Gaídhlig over the last several months and giggled a bit when I learned the word for whiskey, Uisge Beatha, literally translates to "life water".
I am so thankful for this episode. There is a whole whisky nerd community on TH-cam. This video is the first I've seen with such a fun, immersive, and full explanation of the history of Scotch whisky. I've a feeling this will be a popular video. Now we need a video on the Judgment of Paris. When Californian wines beat French wines in a blind tasting, not when Paris brought destruction to Troy in Homer's Illiad.
All the fascinating history aside (and despite my aversion to brown liquors), Max you are looking absolutely stunning in this video. Your lighting and color as well as your sound design are top notch here!
Max, you're one of the few Americans who actually pronounces a lot of Scottish words. As soon as I head you say 'Dram' I knew you did your homework, didn't call Edinburgh EDINBRUG so 'max' respect.
Yeah, Whisky in Gaelic, Usige-Beagh literally translates into water of life. I'm sure we'd debate over Irn-Bru, Buckfast or Whisky having that name but its a pretty interesting name
"eau de vie" in France, though this describes rustic distilled liquor in general rather than any specific spirit and as far as I've seen is always colorless. It's often added in small amounts to Ratafia to compensate for the shorter fermentation period of grapes for it...
@@pedroarjona6996 almost the same for Portuguese, Aguardente. Literal juxtaposition of "burning water" First began it's appreciation as the thing being added to Porto and Madeira wine to make them stronger, and stop their fermentations
I really love this style of video. One: your style of presentation is just so nice and I really love how you share what you’ve learned on your trip with those of us who might never be able to afford the trip.
Personally more of a rye or bourbon kinda person, but anything with more of a spice note than peat note sounds intriguing. I do recall visiting one heck of a whisky shop in Edinburgh, certainly seems to be quite the range of types/blends out there. Hopefully you've enjoyed/are enjoying your time in Scotland, I'm hoping to go back next year myself (work vice leisure, but still counts in my mind).
Try Blackadder unfiltered if you get the chance to, you'll grow a glorious beard and a deep voice after just a few sips. One of my favorites, it's unfiltered and cask raw, but I drink it very rarely, for two reasons, primary one is that I'm not going anywhere after a glass except for reason two, I want to brawl. Jokes aside it's a very strong raw whiskey, most tend to not appreciate it much unless they like interesting Whisky, and it's pretty pricey.
for future reference max, edinburgh = edin-bruh and glasgow = glas-go ("go" as in "i have to go")! as a scottish fan, this was otherwise amazing. hope you enjoy your visit!
There's a anime called "Bartender" that has a great episode on Scotch Whisky - they go into how important blends were for Scottish businesses, since the English forced a tax on single malts - it's why Ballantine's is so highly valued, since it has a long history and the blending process was refined to be just as complex as the distillations themselves.
Aberlour is my favorite scotch I've ever bought. I'm not a huge drinker or a critic, so I've not tried everything scotch has to offer, but Aberlour does stand out at least for me. Good choice
I've made some of the older usquebath recipes with fruit, licorice root, and spices (not musk or ambergris). It is .... absolutely nothing like anything we would call whiskey today
@@erzsebetkovacs2527 Books like _Cordial Waters_ from the Amphora Society, _A Sip Through Time_ , old distilling manuals and late 19th/early 20th century formularies and "receipt" books. I'm pretty sure the Googles will get you a fair number of them. The strangest one I ever made was Rosa Solaris made from an old Aqua Composita recipe further flavored with the carnivorous sundew plant (a friend of mine raises all sorts of carnivorous plants).
Watching this video right now, at the scene change point where you removed to your room, I am moved to note how very easy on the eyes you are in that blue shirt, with the muted soft colours of those walls behind you. It all really lights up the remarkable blue of your eyes!
Interesting - Aquavit is also significant in Scandinavian countries - but it looks like it evolved in a different way as a reflection of the local culture.
Most likely people noticed how good it was against diseases like infectious ones and heart ones. My grandpa used to drink whisky to keep his blood flowing.... amd the doctor said he had to
Great episode, I hope you're enjoying the trip! I'm absolutely an Islay man when it comes to Whisky (with the Islands close behind) but do love it all. There's such an amazing array of taste profiles to be found. Safe travels
If you expand more on whiskey in subsequent videos, don't forget to mention the Whiskey Rebellion here in western Pennsylvania! (I would not be surprised if my ancestors took part.)
Interesting you note at the end that whisky producers marketed their drink as ‘medicinal’. Cheers in Scottish and Irish Gaelic (Slàinte/Slàinte Mhath) translates as health/good health.
Big fan of the one who went "This is a stimulant that will affect neither your head nor liver". Like, that is a ridiculous amount of wrong, even cocaine cough syrup actually stopped coughs.
this is one of those subjects i always meant to go read about but never got around to. so thank you very much for your effort in researching and presenting, very fun!
I highly recommend trying something from Ardbeg if you haven’t already. They have an offering by the name of Uigedail which is my personal favorite whisky of all time but all of their bottlings are fantastic. It’s very heavily peated but also full of lightness and nuance. Truly beautiful stuff
My father's favorite drink was Drambuie. A video of how it came about would be very interesting. Love the history lessons and your videos. Keep up the grest work.
So what you’re saying is that when my grandpa made bathtub gin during prohibition, he was simply following in the cultural footsteps of his ancestors in the Highlands.
As I watch this video I am enjoying an Islay peated whisky. I think the Highland whiskies are made from malted barley while lowland whiskies used rye or other grains. Blends usually use both types. I do enjoy the water of life.
Thank you for this video! I've always wondered why there aren't any distilleries in Scotland that go back farther than the mid-18th century, and it's kind of neat to know that all the attempts to kill the production of Scotch actually made the drink better over time. As an American with Scottish ancestry I can confidently say that history very much mirrors the history of the Scottish people. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Slainte mhath, my friend!
9 months late here to comment, but while we were in Scotland in 2019 we toured the Tomatin distillery near Inverness. Very informative and enjoyable. We also did a whisky tasting, and the tour guide did an excellent job explaining where the peaty flavor comes from in many whiskies. Anyone who has a chance to tour a distillery should absolutely take it.
I invite you to some day come to the north of Ireland and have a tour around the oldest licensed distillery in the world, Bushmills. Without a doubt the best whiskey (although I might be a wee bit biased...)
Ah but sure aren't we all though? Something about drinking the local stuff makes the soul happy, methinks. Though of course my spirits are dampened slightly by the little fact the local whiskey to me is in Offaly of all places (Tullamore D.E.W, which I always thought was dew like the morning until I did their tour. The more we know.)
When I was in Edinburgh a few years ago, I went to the "Whiskey Tasting Experience" just outside the castle. It definitely made me appreciate the different styles and flavors from around the country, but this episode filled in a lot of the gaps about prohibition that I somehow glossed over. I prefer the Speyside whiskeys myself.
Great episode. Fun fact: The term "sheepdip" in modern parlance, refers to when the military or intelligence agencies pretend to discharge a soldier from the special forces, but actually have them go deep undercover in some capacity as a citizen, without actually being out of the branch/agency of origin. This is where a lot of the infiltrators of militia groups come from in America.
And infiltrators are where most of the militia groups come from,one three-letter agency does enough entrapment to make a bust then it turns out all the members are other government agents,or they convince some previously harmless person to commit a terrorist attack to justify their agency's overreaching existence.
Whisky is one of the best resources of the world ...I must have some 45/50 bottles of different brands just to "appreciate" their different taste and I'm extremely happy about them so thank you Scotland and Ireland from the bottom of my heart 🙂
I am a huge fan of peated and smokey whiskies, and whisky in general, and while I knew most of this stuff already some new information was gleaned, so thank you to Max Miller for providing this. I also want to add one wee point, that the term aqua vitae has also been incorporated into name of the Scandinavian spirit aquavit. An also very varied spirit, but based mostly on potatoes than on barley or grain, at least these days, and with a lot of new distilleries cropping up and doing some very interesting things with it. Keep videos coming, Max, both the history and the recipes are interesting.
Fun fact: the reason Scotch is so much lighter in color and often aged so much longer than American bourbon is the lack of temperature variations in Scotland. If you had a 70-year-old American bourbon it would just taste like barrel because of the juice going in and out of the barrel with the very hot summers and cool winters in Kentucky. On the other hand a 70 year old Scotch might sell for several thousand dollars. American whiskey enthusiasts do have the Irish and Scotch heritage to thank as those immigrants came over here and used the materials they could find, for example corn, and as a result bourbon emerged.
I find that first claim hard to believe. Are they not aged underground, where temperature variance is significantly reduced regardless of where you are on the planet?
@@NewChiqueChloe No they do not age bourbon or Scotch (both are whiskeys) underground. Both are aged above ground in what are called rickhouses. The temperature extremes in Kentucky causes the oak barrels to expand and contract pulling the whiskey into and expelling it out of the wood, giving it it's color and flavor. The temperature in Scotland is much less diverse causing less interaction with the wood and allowing for much longer aging. Just for some context I do reviews on a website called Whiskey Suggest 🥃
@@waynemontpetit8181 this is what I love about bourbon, the oakiness. Scotch whiskey is more mellow and don't even get me started on Irish whiskey. Irish is so smooth that it's like drink water.
@@waynemontpetit8181 How does distilling before aging strip the flavor out? It may strip out any flavor imparted by the grain itself, but in many cases that is a plus not a negative. Properly distilled moonshine has no flavor. There are many whiskeys that are distilled and filtered repeatedly before being aged, yet are not flavorless. Jack Daniels is purposely filtered through 10ft of charcoal to remove flavor before it goes into barrels for aging, so is Jack Daniels flavorless? The vast majority of whiskeys start off with almost no flavor, only gaining flavor due to the aging in charred oak barrels.
I lived in Scotland in the early '90s. Right before I came back I went to a pub and had a wee dram of Fettercairn (I believe that is the correct spelling) whiskey. It was distilled a few miles away from where I lived. It was made in a traditional way with peat. It tasted very smoky. I always wanted to get some in the states but it's not exported to the US as far as I can find out. I hope you had a great time while you were there.
I liked bourbon when i was younger, canadian in my late twenties, but then canada did some sketchy things that ill not get into here... Switched to scotch and its my favorite hands down. Its the first whisky i could sip straight. Amazing with coffee too.
I love Scotland. My great grandparents are from there and I play in a pipe band, so I've been about five times for the World Pipe Band Championships. Highly recommend!
I'm 33 and I've managed to crawl through life without ever taking a sip of alcohol. However, I am deeply fascinated by the history and production of all kinds of alcohol, particularly rum and whisky. For my birthday this year I took a tour of a local rum producer and it was a fascinating experience.
Oh I love this. Robert Jordan who wrote the wheel of time puts an alcoholic drink in one of his cultures (the aiel) called usquai and I’m sure it must be based on usque. He did a ton of stuff like that.
A friendly bartender in a hotel on Loch Rannoch one August evening served me my first glass of Laphroaig. It was something near to a religious experience, and I became an immediate convert before the bottom of the glass. Been a fan of Islays ever since. My favorite Speyside is the Balvenie Doublewood, which finishes ageing in port and sherry barrels -- it is as complex and layered as a red wine. A Bordeaux, perhaps. Do try it.
Try a bottle of Aberfeldy Scotch here:
bit.ly/drinkinghistorybottles
Also, I recorded this only days before Queen Elizabeth II passed and have left my mention of her in as a future reminder to myself of where I was at the time.
It's surely a trip of the ages for you. It would be appropriate for you to have a gin and tonic to toast The Queen. She did have one or two on occasion.
Hey Max, you should do a vid on bourbon sometime. Interesting history behind America's spirit, anything from charred fish barrels to the conflicts between the different distilleries in Kentucky
I was going to say ouch, but I am glad you left this in
You forgot to put the TH-cam links to Scotland History Tours that you said you would 12:45 The link you provided is a regular shopping website.
I would be very interested in your opinion of Ardmore whisky: it went from a purely blending whisky to a full blown single malt in the space of about 20 years and my _god_ it's peated out of it's mind!
"Balmoral, where the Queen is as we speak."
Very rarely does a sentence become outdated the same day it's spoken.
I was thinking this very thing.
Seriously. It was just a couple days after I filmed this 😔
Aged like a fine milk
I was also thinking the same thing.
@@TastingHistory The Queen had been summering in Balmoral for 95 years. Glad you got to visit while she was still in residence, even if it was only for a few days. Literally the experience of a lifetime.
Did max... pack Pokémon plushies for his trip to Scotland?
That's commitment.
I was wondering what they were going to do about that
Is it a Grovyle or a Larvitar?
It looks like a Treecko.
Why pack when it can be a new opportunity to buy while on the road?
@@adriennesimpson9679 It is a Treecko. The man has good taste!
Interesting factoid: I'm in Missouri and we actually do a lot of trade with Scotland. Making oak barrels for Scottish distilleries is actually a large business in the Ozarks. The Scots depleted their oak forests centuries ago and now must import their barrels in from North America.
The oak barrels from Missouri also end up in the bourbon distilleries in Kentucky and Tennessee. 😀
Not just the fact that we depleted our oak forests, but a lot of the barrels you guys make go through the bourbon industry first. Therefore, Scotch whisky gets some of that lovely bourbon flavour from the barrel. So, on behalf of a lover of bourbon cask whisky, I thank your state for its service!
Yeah, bourbon legally requires fresh barrels every time, but after that there is still lots of life to get out of them, so they will get sent around, lots to Ireland and Scotland, to be used there, because Irish and Scotch whisky don't have that barrel requirement. Sherry barrels are another common thing for this.
@@DrBrangar yeah a lot distilleries in Scotland "loan out" barrels to Bourbon distillers and Sherry to "break them in" before being brought to Scotland for scotch
Missouri represent! We're known for our meth, but we're quite fond of alcohol as well.
@@DrBrangar There are even more, I bought some nice Port barrel aged Glenmorangie last time I was in Scotland and Madeira barrels are used as well.
Bourbon barrels are probably most common though followed by new barrels, they add a little extra flavor and are cheap to buy so win-win.
Oaks are not that common anymore in Great Britain, the Royal Navy spent a few hundred years cutting them down and instead of replanting them everywhere, a lot were instead cleared for farming after the large oaks were cut down. Particularly Scotland have very few trees today even though there is a replanting program in some parts of the country. Early bronze age Scotland was a very different looking place.
I enjoy the thought of Max selecting which Pokemon plushies he would pack for his vacation.
You have to make a drinking history about the Port wine... :D there's so much to explore there. If you ever visit Portugal, there are 2 museums dedicated to Port wine - one dedicated to the storage and sale of the fortified wine in Vila Nova de Gaia (just across the river from Porto), and another dedicated to the production of the wine itself, from the agricultural process to the production of the wine itself, and the process of shipping it downriver to Vila Nova de Gaia - this museum is called the Douro Museum and it's located in Peso da Régua, inland from Porto.
I want to! It’s one of my favorite things to drink.
@@TastingHistory As a Portuguese (and Porto city) native, I'll be glad to show you around. Please let me know if you ever visit Porto. Is there any way I can contact you via private message or mail? So that I can share my contact information?
@@TastingHistory Nevermind - I've seen the e-mail on your youtube page. I'll send you an e-mail, so that you can keep my contact information.
@@TastingHistory And while you are there, how about a lil' episode about Bacalhau à Brás, to go with your wine?
And if you ever go south, try the Licor de Medronho e Mel from Algarve. Pretty tasty dessert drink, imho.
Oh Portugal is a great destination!
Try some recipes from 'O Livro de Cozinha da Infanta D. Maria de Portugal'!
I live in Moray, which has the highest concentration of distilleries in Scotland, and my husband works in one, and yes we do get an allowance of free whisky! so I really enjoyed this episode.
Speyside is the best! I once stayed outside of the town near some barley fields and barns. Every next hill you see smoke from another distillery!
Are you bragging about alcoholism?
He scrubs the toilets
Bob , some people can drink like Gentleman and Ladies . They do not become alcoholics. Just saying.
@@nilo70 a bottle of whisky a week is alcoholism olin
Not only is this video about history, it is a snapshot of history. 💗🙏
Exactly!
That’s what I was thinking! 🥺
It certainly is!
...a 'shot' of history..
@@TastingHistory and a taste of history as well.
Here in Scandinavia, aqua vite (akvavit) is a predominately dill-flavoured herb-infused vodka at 30-35%! It's also got a centuries long history, dating back to a Danish noble sending a letter and a bottle to a Norwegian bishop, urging him to try this "life water" to alleviate him from his illnesses!
Isnt it Caraway (Kümmel)?
Well now I feel even more obligated to tour northern Europe to drink their weird alcohols
@@faceless2302 can i go with you?
@@cvdirecto5008 the more the merrier, maybe if we get enough people onboard we'll eventually pick up someone that can actually speak the native languages
@@faceless2302 that will actually be cool AF
Love how the rule that whisky had to be aged backfired.
Did they ever figure out the least amount of time to age it for taste or does it have to be 3yrs?
@@Sandybowls_9001 the law is still 3 years
Should have gone the other way. Like catching your kid smoking and forcing them to smoke the rest of the pack one after another in a way to make them sick and never smoke again....
@@rw-xf4cb That backfired with a few of my friends. Even the one whose father bought a carton of cigarettes and made her smoke them all. One was even forced to eat a pack of cigarettes. It's been 30 years and they all still smoke.
Of course Whisky only gets good after the first 8 years. The better ones are 12 years old.
Ian Tamblyn has a nice song called "The Angel's Share" which is what people call the part of the whiskey that evaporates through the cask before bottling. Some small percentage every year. I remember hearing him sing it on a ship in the Hebrides many years ago now. Its why it gets mellower with aging in the cask up to a point...
Great shout on having Scottish History Tours featured, and collaborating with him on his channel!
Bruce is awesome. He made this trip truly special. Driving around with him was a masterclass in history and tour guiding.
@@TastingHistory, good and inspiring teachers are simply that, no matter what they are teaching; Bruce came into this with a background of both teaching high school physics and doing stand-up! I have been following his channel as long as I’ve been following yours.
I noticed you commented on the phylloxera epidemic of the 1800s. It might be interesting for you to do an episode on how Missouri vineyards saved France from the phylloxera epidemic because Missouri wines were resistant to the plague. It’s a very interesting story that involves Thomas Jefferson France and history. Love your channel
That's so cool and interesting!
@@DonyaLane New world vinestock was grafted onto French vines, I believe.
I really wouldn't mind if you made more of this kind of history only content on cooking. The depth of research and you delivery of it is extremely entertaining.
He has.
Yay! Drinking History on the go! To go? Either way, may this be the start of traveling to historic areas and meet ups!
That’s exactly what I hope to do! I got to meet lots of fans on the trip and it was fantastic.
If it's to go, it means we're in Louisiana with its drive-thru daiquiri joints!
If you ever come to Philadelphia to explore cheesesteaks or scrapple or even shoo-fly pie, come to New Hope! We're where Washington crossed the Delaware. (Coryell's Ferry was the original name.) I'll make sure to show you around!
Remember to check out the fully functional reconstructed Roman kitchens in Austria one day 😉
This was awesome. And believe me, the public wants more. Come back to europe when you can, though I believe a Mexican history on tortillas and tequila and mezcal come first
My favourite part of this video was the "medicinal" section. When we were little and came down with colds, Grandma would run to pour us kids a capful of Whisky. She swore it would kill the sickness!
My mom would make a hot toddy to soothe a cough. Yep, whiskey there too!
The high levels of alcohol will wipe out any bacteria or viruses infecting your throat.
I used to get hot black tea with honey and whisky when I was down with a bad cold as a child. Only before bed, with vicks vaporub, and it sure had us kids sleeping soundly, and generally waking up not too sick any more. A little sniffly, but not as bad and coughy as the night before.
There really is something about getting a good night of sleep for healing. I'm not suggesting you give a hot toddy to your kids when they're sick, but not everything older generations did was not helpful. I don't give my kids whiskey cough syrup, but I do for myself.
I remember getting a cold at my grandparents’ house & my grandpa giving me a shot of whisky & honey, I was absolutely terrified I was going to get in trouble for it 😂
My favourite food and drink stories are the “We don’t know where it’s from exactly” because it adds to the intrigue of the audience.
That’s most of them 😆
The best ones have two or three competing histories and loyal, rabid followers ready to defend their version, it's so extra.
1. Thanks for introducing us to Bruce, at Scottish History Tours. I'm descended of Clan Donald and am having a blast learning about my distant ancestors.
2. In college, 30 years ago, an English Lit teacher told us that mid-twentieth century popular fiction in the US used Scotch as a "woman's drink" to either indicate a provocative female character or to indicate a "less than masculine" man. I would expect Scots to scoff at the notion, and this old queen prefers Bourbon anyway, but I wondered if that might be a subject to explore sometime, here.
Thanks for keeping us engaged and learning!
@@SimuLord I'd have been happy to inherit a working soft serve machine.
It's funny, when I bartended at a dive, Scotch was the preferred drink of old ladies.
I don't get it. Whiskey always seemed to be considered the "manly man" drink, and Scotch, especially a super peaty one, seemed like a very refined taste, but...eh, no accounting for dumbass stereotypes.
I love a good peaty Scotch, a smooth Irish whisky, and I *love* a good Pennsylvania Rye...but I can't stand bourbon, or any sour mash, really. Just tastes sweet and rotten. You'd think that would be a woman's drink.
@@gpweaver Women do seem to prefer sweeter drinks than men. Probably someone just trying to sell American liquor over Scotch.
@@clobberelladoesntreadcomme9920 It was only older ladies, ones who tended to be overdressed for the joint.
Younger women, by and large, preferred the sweet mixed drinks.
It's awesome to see you coming to Scotland! That Eilean donan castle you showed used to be garrisoned by my ancestors. Have you been enjoying your stay?
It’s such an amazing country. I could see myself spending a lot more time there in the future.
@@TastingHistory you'll always be welcome!
@@TastingHistory no shade on England, but Scotland really is magical :)
True story: my wife and I decided to enjoy a dram while watching your video, so I poured us a couple glasses and pressed play. By pure coincidence, the whisky we were drinking was . . . Aberlour! So, sláinte, sir! You gave us a delightful flashback to our own jaunt along the Whisky Trail back in 2008.
An aside, but please tell me you've learned about the drunk Highland cows! As my great-aunt from Aberdeenshire told us, "People say the Scots are frugal, but I think we're just canny." Canny, indeed!
Whisky in Ireland has an e in it in order to note it apart from scotland because in scotland they can use a continuous still for the base alcohol where in ireland it has to be from pot stills, if you can get a bottle of yellow spot from ireland, or poteen if you can.
And poitín has recognised status know I believe so one should be able to get a bottle legally nowadays.
My kids' reaction to poitín was 'omg what IS that SMELL?!' And not in a good way 🤣
Isn't continuous still used in Ireland too for blends?
16:00 the English (and I say that rather than British very carefully) government really never learned did they? In the Raj cobras were a pest, and so the government offered a bounty for every head turned in. Unsurprisingly, this just led to people breeding cobras just to hand in for cash
after a while they cottoned on and stopped handing out the bounties at which point the cobras were all turned loose and the problem was worse than at the start!
The American government didn't learn from this either. Except they went even further and it backfired massively
Why single out the English there? That pretty much applies to every country.
@@tams805 because this specific anecdote was about colonial rule in India. Whilst the government was nominally British, it was (and continues to be) overwhelmingly dominated by the English to the extent that even if all the other constituent countries of the UK's MP's disagreed with the English MP's, the English ones would get their way
Wow! If you dig deeper you'll find that my state (Missouri) has played a huge role in the Scottish whisky industry and the French wine industry. Besides Missouri supply Scottish distilleries with oak barrels today, Missouri also rescued the French wine industry from phyllozera. In the late 1800s a region of Missouri about 100 miles southwest of St Louis was known as the "Little Rhine" where German immigrants had planted vineyards. It was the Napa Valley of the 1800s. Long story short: Grape vine cuttings from Missouri were sent to France to help reestablish the vineyards that were diseased. Those vines are still producing French wine today.
Missouri produces some wonderful wines (I think better than Napa Valley) if you see any in your local liquor purveyor get some.
@@jjudy5869 That could be a whole episode of Tasting History. Up until Prohibition the region around Hermann, Missouri, was the wine capital of the US. Prohibition killed it. But after Prohibition was lifted many of the winemakers from Missouri moved to California and started Napa Valley. They brought the knowledge of winemaking and the grapevine clippings to California and made it what it is today. Forgotten history: The ties between Missouri and California in the US wine industry.
In spain it is the same. All the wones we produe today come frome american vineyard who were inmune to the bug
I have driven through that area before. Was quite amazed with the area
I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Missourah
First, RIP HRM Queen Elizabeth II - even as an American, her passing is so sad. Second, love how a pokemon still made it into an episode being filmed in a busy restaurant
This channel is the reason i use youtube.
Best content on the platform.
Thank you, Rickard!
My Grandmother was a Dewar, and that’s my middle name! 😊. The Dewars that are my ancestors came to NC a long time ago…like before the civil war. One day I would love to travel to Scotland. Thanks for taking us along, Max. 😊
Looking forward to the Macbeth vid! Never went to Balmoral when I visited Scotland loooong ago, my fondest memory was visiting Loch Ness and the Bannockburn where Robert the Bruce led the Scots to victory over the English (against King Edward the second I think?). Enjoy yer trip Mr Max! 😁
I love Max Miller. The way he can branch off of each and every topic simply surprises me and it makes me want to watch him even more
These teetotallers have done so much for whisky. Not only David Lloyd George was one and he improved it by forcing it's ageing, but the most famous person in the (blended) whisky circles also was.
Did you notice who was in that image with said teetotaller? 😏
10:00 Latitude does affect how drunk one gets. It is more difficult to get drunk in higher altitudes... So, when drinking the usual amount, highlanders would appear/be more drunk in lower altitude (lowlands).While the lowlanders would be able to drink more than their usual in higher altitudes without getting as drunk. hence the double/reverse thinking/theorising
Love the cooking aspect of this channel but this is truly the proof I would watch you simply talk any history for hours! Love this video!
Aqua vita or Akevitt as its called here is a spirit which vaguely matches the description of early Whisky. A ~40% distilled spirit, but which here is usually made on potatoes, but maybe also on other grains. But it is usually spiced with either caraway or dill. But maybe also i.e. anis or fennel. Also by here i mean Norway
A Scotish Lad here my friend and fellow bloke. Thanks for your schoooling. Very educational.
Thank you yet again for an amazing video! I'm actually about to go to Scotland in a few weeks so I can try some Whisky at some Scottish distilleries for the first time. I've been planning my trip to the UK for months, and it was so sad to hear the passing of Her Majesty the Queen right before my trip. I leave tomorrow for London, and at least this way I get to pay my respects. Thank you so much for another great video, it made me so much more excited to try Whisky in Scotland for the first time!
Hope you enjoy our country!
@@janetmackinnon3411 Thank you!
I live in the same village as Bruce Fummey & he's a real character. Also an excellent tour guide, stand up comedian & TH-camr. Hope he took you to our local distillery while you were here?
Must say I'm a Speyside fan as opposed to the peaty Island whiskies. While Malts are usually preferable there is the odd blend which wasn't bad, unfortunately the best of them "Bailie Nicol Jarvie" has been discontinued & it was better than some Malts.
We do still use it medicinally, still say there's no better way to cast off a stinking cold than a good hot toddy [whisky, honey, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, lemon juice & hot water. Dosage is drink & repeat...often]
When I still lived further North I liked to bruise a couple of juniper berries from the tree outside & place them in my glass, added a nice taste to an already lovely drink. It used to be a relatively common practice in parts of Scotland.
Hope you had a good visit to Scotland & 'Haste ye back'.
We didn't get to the distillery, but he hooked me up with the butcher in Auchterarder where I made haggis.
Goat Boy
Add some fresh grated ginger and finely chopped garlic to your toddy. Helps with sore throat too.
Speyside are the best! And Aberlour is one of the best of the Speysides :D I had a lovely 22 year old Tamdhu cask strength half bottle gifted to me a few years ago, I used it very sparingly but it’s all gone now. It was supremely smooth, nicely spicy, and had so much depth.
@@TastingHistory Oh looking forward to that.
I'm very lucky having him on the doorstep, great quality meat & service. Hope you had a chance to try one of his skirrlie topped pies?😋
@@jacquelyns9709 Sounds interesting, never thought to put garlic near whisky but I can see the logic. Cheers.
this was a really great story/history presentation. Maybe it's bc I'm halfway thru a dry-September, but this is among my favorite episodes. Proves the channel's great format, even on the road.
that moment when your historical drinking video becomes a super tight record of a moment in history I hope you are able to enjoy your trip even with the very different nature of what you expected.
About the Aqua Vitae, in French some strong transparent liquors are called "Eau de Vie" (even if they're not whisky), meaning the exact same thing, so there might be a correlation. I never knew why they were called like that!
Yes, Eau de Vie is the base of Cognac.
I've been learning Scottish Gaídhlig over the last several months and giggled a bit when I learned the word for whiskey, Uisge Beatha, literally translates to "life water".
I am so thankful for this episode. There is a whole whisky nerd community on TH-cam. This video is the first I've seen with such a fun, immersive, and full explanation of the history of Scotch whisky. I've a feeling this will be a popular video.
Now we need a video on the Judgment of Paris. When Californian wines beat French wines in a blind tasting, not when Paris brought destruction to Troy in Homer's Illiad.
All the fascinating history aside (and despite my aversion to brown liquors), Max you are looking absolutely stunning in this video. Your lighting and color as well as your sound design are top notch here!
Thank you! I need to keep filming there 😂
I agree, so true!👌
Max, you're one of the few Americans who actually pronounces a lot of Scottish words. As soon as I head you say 'Dram' I knew you did your homework, didn't call Edinburgh EDINBRUG so 'max' respect.
Dram is also in the American vocabulary. Mostly just old folks though.
He did say 'Edinboro' though unfortunately.
It's 'Edin-buh-ruh'
@@juliantheapostate8295 Atleast he gave it an effort not to make it sound German
I didn’t know the origins of ‘Whisky’ was Gaelic for ‘water’. Or Aqua Mortis if you decide to get passionately inebriated.
Also the lovely caraway scented Aquavit [AKA; aquavite, akvavit, akevitt] from our Scandinavian neighbours.
Yeah, Whisky in Gaelic, Usige-Beagh literally translates into water of life. I'm sure we'd debate over Irn-Bru, Buckfast or Whisky having that name but its a pretty interesting name
"eau de vie" in France, though this describes rustic distilled liquor in general rather than any specific spirit and as far as I've seen is always colorless. It's often added in small amounts to Ratafia to compensate for the shorter fermentation period of grapes for it...
Aguardiente, a generic word for many white destilates in Spanish, some better than others, means burning water.
@@pedroarjona6996 almost the same for Portuguese, Aguardente. Literal juxtaposition of "burning water"
First began it's appreciation as the thing being added to Porto and Madeira wine to make them stronger, and stop their fermentations
I really love this style of video. One: your style of presentation is just so nice and I really love how you share what you’ve learned on your trip with those of us who might never be able to afford the trip.
Personally more of a rye or bourbon kinda person, but anything with more of a spice note than peat note sounds intriguing. I do recall visiting one heck of a whisky shop in Edinburgh, certainly seems to be quite the range of types/blends out there.
Hopefully you've enjoyed/are enjoying your time in Scotland, I'm hoping to go back next year myself (work vice leisure, but still counts in my mind).
Try Blackadder unfiltered if you get the chance to, you'll grow a glorious beard and a deep voice after just a few sips. One of my favorites, it's unfiltered and cask raw, but I drink it very rarely, for two reasons, primary one is that I'm not going anywhere after a glass except for reason two, I want to brawl. Jokes aside it's a very strong raw whiskey, most tend to not appreciate it much unless they like interesting Whisky, and it's pretty pricey.
Almost all speyside whiskies have that character to their flavour, some even taste like spiced dried fruit candies. It’s wonderful
Love that Max seems to be a couple of whiskies in at the start of this 😂
"Am I getting cloves? Maybe... maybe not"
I was rewatching it and noticing him turning redder and redder as the video progresses 😂
Bruce’s Scotland History tour is awesome and seeing you on his channel was super cool.👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
for future reference max, edinburgh = edin-bruh and glasgow = glas-go ("go" as in "i have to go")! as a scottish fan, this was otherwise amazing. hope you enjoy your visit!
There's a anime called "Bartender" that has a great episode on Scotch Whisky - they go into how important blends were for Scottish businesses, since the English forced a tax on single malts - it's why Ballantine's is so highly valued, since it has a long history and the blending process was refined to be just as complex as the distillations themselves.
Great reference! Thank you!
Aberlour is my favorite scotch I've ever bought. I'm not a huge drinker or a critic, so I've not tried everything scotch has to offer, but Aberlour does stand out at least for me. Good choice
I've made some of the older usquebath recipes with fruit, licorice root, and spices (not musk or ambergris). It is .... absolutely nothing like anything we would call whiskey today
Where did you find those recipes?
@@erzsebetkovacs2527 Books like _Cordial Waters_ from the Amphora Society, _A Sip Through Time_ , old distilling manuals and late 19th/early 20th century formularies and "receipt" books. I'm pretty sure the Googles will get you a fair number of them. The strangest one I ever made was Rosa Solaris made from an old Aqua Composita recipe further flavored with the carnivorous sundew plant (a friend of mine raises all sorts of carnivorous plants).
@@toddellner5283 Thank you!
Watching this video right now, at the scene change point where you removed to your room, I am moved to note how very easy on the eyes you are in that blue shirt, with the muted soft colours of those walls behind you. It all really lights up the remarkable blue of your eyes!
Interesting - Aquavit is also significant in Scandinavian countries - but it looks like it evolved in a different way as a reflection of the local culture.
Akevitt! I have been meaning to pick up a bottle for a few weeks now. I hear the one they make at my local distillery is pretty good.
Most likely people noticed how good it was against diseases like infectious ones and heart ones. My grandpa used to drink whisky to keep his blood flowing.... amd the doctor said he had to
I've been subscribed to Fummey's Channel for years. He really puts Scottish History in a good perspective that no one else online does as well as him.
It's so cute how you put the stuffed animal in the shot, even though you're not at home! Love it!
Great episode, I hope you're enjoying the trip!
I'm absolutely an Islay man when it comes to Whisky (with the Islands close behind) but do love it all. There's such an amazing array of taste profiles to be found.
Safe travels
If you expand more on whiskey in subsequent videos, don't forget to mention the Whiskey Rebellion here in western Pennsylvania! (I would not be surprised if my ancestors took part.)
Interesting you note at the end that whisky producers marketed their drink as ‘medicinal’. Cheers in Scottish and Irish Gaelic (Slàinte/Slàinte Mhath) translates as health/good health.
Big fan of the one who went "This is a stimulant that will affect neither your head nor liver". Like, that is a ridiculous amount of wrong, even cocaine cough syrup actually stopped coughs.
In Welsh it's "iechyd da," which means the same thing.
You should do a show on Japanese Whisky which started it's origines on Glasgow back in the 1890's. Would be a great listen.
Visited the Cairngorms recently, enjoyed my tour around Glenlivet and Glenfiddich distillery
Greetings from Scotland 😊 Have a great day everyone 🌻
this is one of those subjects i always meant to go read about but never got around to. so thank you very much for your effort in researching and presenting, very fun!
I highly recommend trying something from Ardbeg if you haven’t already. They have an offering by the name of Uigedail which is my personal favorite whisky of all time but all of their bottlings are fantastic. It’s very heavily peated but also full of lightness and nuance. Truly beautiful stuff
My folks LOVE Ardbeg!!!!
My father's favorite drink was Drambuie.
A video of how it came about would be very interesting. Love the history lessons and your videos. Keep up the grest work.
So what you’re saying is that when my grandpa made bathtub gin during prohibition, he was simply following in the cultural footsteps of his ancestors in the Highlands.
As I watch this video I am enjoying an Islay peated whisky. I think the Highland whiskies are made from malted barley while lowland whiskies used rye or other grains. Blends usually use both types. I do enjoy the water of life.
Thank you for this video! I've always wondered why there aren't any distilleries in Scotland that go back farther than the mid-18th century, and it's kind of neat to know that all the attempts to kill the production of Scotch actually made the drink better over time. As an American with Scottish ancestry I can confidently say that history very much mirrors the history of the Scottish people. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Slainte mhath, my friend!
Awwww, Max! I'm so jealous! Drinking Scot whiskey on Hogmanay in Inverness is one of my most beloved memories.
Bruce's videos are fantastic. I'm jealous of you getting to tour with him.
The Scottish History Tours are great. I have watched several now. They are both interesting and and entertaining.
“It abandoneth melancholie” I don’t even want to know how many depressed people were prescribed whisky😅 that’s a disaster storm for addiction!
9 months late here to comment, but while we were in Scotland in 2019 we toured the Tomatin distillery near Inverness. Very informative and enjoyable. We also did a whisky tasting, and the tour guide did an excellent job explaining where the peaty flavor comes from in many whiskies. Anyone who has a chance to tour a distillery should absolutely take it.
I invite you to some day come to the north of Ireland and have a tour around the oldest licensed distillery in the world, Bushmills. Without a doubt the best whiskey (although I might be a wee bit biased...)
Ah but sure aren't we all though? Something about drinking the local stuff makes the soul happy, methinks. Though of course my spirits are dampened slightly by the little fact the local whiskey to me is in Offaly of all places (Tullamore D.E.W, which I always thought was dew like the morning until I did their tour. The more we know.)
Excellent work, Sir. Research, writing, and performance all well done.
"Where the queen is as we speak"
*Recorded several days before the queen's passing
Oh man... Of all the cursed timing you could get, right?
Seriously
When I was in Edinburgh a few years ago, I went to the "Whiskey Tasting Experience" just outside the castle. It definitely made me appreciate the different styles and flavors from around the country, but this episode filled in a lot of the gaps about prohibition that I somehow glossed over. I prefer the Speyside whiskeys myself.
Great episode. Fun fact: The term "sheepdip" in modern parlance, refers to when the military or intelligence agencies pretend to discharge a soldier from the special forces, but actually have them go deep undercover in some capacity as a citizen, without actually being out of the branch/agency of origin. This is where a lot of the infiltrators of militia groups come from in America.
And infiltrators are where most of the militia groups come from,one three-letter agency does enough entrapment to make a bust then it turns out all the members are other government agents,or they convince some previously harmless person to commit a terrorist attack to justify their agency's overreaching existence.
@@ffwast lol agree. Wasn't trying to go too hard in the comments on my foodtube watching though :D
I love it when one favourite TH-camr plugs another favourite TH-camr! Bruce Fummey is great!
Whisky is just a versatile drink: It’s both restorative and an alternative to waterboarding.
Whisky is one of the best resources of the world ...I must have some 45/50 bottles of different brands just to "appreciate" their different taste and I'm extremely happy about them so thank you Scotland and Ireland from the bottom of my heart 🙂
I am a huge fan of peated and smokey whiskies, and whisky in general, and while I knew most of this stuff already some new information was gleaned, so thank you to Max Miller for providing this.
I also want to add one wee point, that the term aqua vitae has also been incorporated into name of the Scandinavian spirit aquavit. An also very varied spirit, but based mostly on potatoes than on barley or grain, at least these days, and with a lot of new distilleries cropping up and doing some very interesting things with it.
Keep videos coming, Max, both the history and the recipes are interesting.
Fun fact: the reason Scotch is so much lighter in color and often aged so much longer than American bourbon is the lack of temperature variations in Scotland. If you had a 70-year-old American bourbon it would just taste like barrel because of the juice going in and out of the barrel with the very hot summers and cool winters in Kentucky. On the other hand a 70 year old Scotch might sell for several thousand dollars.
American whiskey enthusiasts do have the Irish and Scotch heritage to thank as those immigrants came over here and used the materials they could find, for example corn, and as a result bourbon emerged.
I find that first claim hard to believe. Are they not aged underground, where temperature variance is significantly reduced regardless of where you are on the planet?
@@NewChiqueChloe No they do not age bourbon or Scotch (both are whiskeys) underground. Both are aged above ground in what are called rickhouses.
The temperature extremes in Kentucky causes the oak barrels to expand and contract pulling the whiskey into and expelling it out of the wood, giving it it's color and flavor. The temperature in Scotland is much less diverse causing less interaction with the wood and allowing for much longer aging.
Just for some context I do reviews on a website called Whiskey Suggest 🥃
@@waynemontpetit8181 this is what I love about bourbon, the oakiness. Scotch whiskey is more mellow and don't even get me started on Irish whiskey. Irish is so smooth that it's like drink water.
@@azcomicgeek Irish whiskey= triple distilled. Strips all the flavor out.
@@waynemontpetit8181 How does distilling before aging strip the flavor out? It may strip out any flavor imparted by the grain itself, but in many cases that is a plus not a negative. Properly distilled moonshine has no flavor. There are many whiskeys that are distilled and filtered repeatedly before being aged, yet are not flavorless. Jack Daniels is purposely filtered through 10ft of charcoal to remove flavor before it goes into barrels for aging, so is Jack Daniels flavorless? The vast majority of whiskeys start off with almost no flavor, only gaining flavor due to the aging in charred oak barrels.
I lived in Scotland in the early '90s. Right before I came back I went to a pub and had a wee dram of Fettercairn (I believe that is the correct spelling) whiskey. It was distilled a few miles away from where I lived. It was made in a traditional way with peat. It tasted very smoky. I always wanted to get some in the states but it's not exported to the US as far as I can find out. I hope you had a great time while you were there.
❤ love your videos! Thank you for making them!
Thank you for watching them!
I liked bourbon when i was younger, canadian in my late twenties, but then canada did some sketchy things that ill not get into here... Switched to scotch and its my favorite hands down. Its the first whisky i could sip straight. Amazing with coffee too.
Another reason to love Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, making Scotch not only socially acceptable but giving it a heavy touch of class as well!
Glad to see you and Bruce are touring together. He is a gem!!!
I actually had a New Zealand whiskey called Sheep Dip. It was pretty good.
Brilliant vid Max. Fantastic research and presentation - not that I would expect anything else from you. Sláinte my good man!
Be careful Max, drinking too much "water" in Scotland will have you sounding like one
Whublurglr on earth do you mean, whisky is complearghargh harmless
Edited because I like Scotch more than bourbon
Och yer shure that'll hahpin?
@@impoverishedcalamari9270 whisky *
@@notoriousgoblin83 Why did I read this?? 😂
If you can say “Purple Buglar Alarm” with a Scottish accent, you’re too drunk.
Yes! Discovered Bruce's channel a month ago. Have been enjoying it. He is a wealth of information.
SO EXCITED to see more Scottish Episodes! Here’s to more compact and comprehensive video scripts.
I love Scotland. My great grandparents are from there and I play in a pipe band, so I've been about five times for the World Pipe Band Championships. Highly recommend!
I was just watching the gruel video!!
Love these history stories, keep it up 🕊
Gruel with whisky sounds like a proper Scottish meal.
@@TastingHistory honestly, just finished the video and gruel is half as bad anymore
Hope you had a great Trip, Max. The castle at the start is Eilean Donan, my most favourite castle so thanks for showing it. 😄🏰
I'm 33 and I've managed to crawl through life without ever taking a sip of alcohol. However, I am deeply fascinated by the history and production of all kinds of alcohol, particularly rum and whisky. For my birthday this year I took a tour of a local rum producer and it was a fascinating experience.
The history is as good as the drink 😁
@@TastingHistory pretty sure the fumes in the distilling room had me drunk 🥴
If you're to the point of crawling you might as well get sauced because a crawling human has either little left to lose or a whole life ahead of them
Oh I love this. Robert Jordan who wrote the wheel of time puts an alcoholic drink in one of his cultures (the aiel) called usquai and I’m sure it must be based on usque. He did a ton of stuff like that.
One of my favourite persons with one of my favourite Scotches. Perfection.
A friendly bartender in a hotel on Loch Rannoch one August evening served me my first glass of Laphroaig. It was something near to a religious experience, and I became an immediate convert before the bottom of the glass. Been a fan of Islays ever since.
My favorite Speyside is the Balvenie Doublewood, which finishes ageing in port and sherry barrels -- it is as complex and layered as a red wine. A Bordeaux, perhaps. Do try it.
You pronounced Aberlour correctly! Oh, what a beautiful dram!!