rushlight wrote: I knew it was either Scotland or Ireland! I just didn't know which.
Yeah, same difference. bloody yanks....
The difference between Scotland and Ireland is that they're completely different places.
The difference between Irish whiskey and that Scottish stuff is that whiskey is distilled three times, compared to twice for the Scottish imitation (and just once for that American poison). Distillation produces not only the good ethanol but also a variety of other nasty chemicals. So it's distilled twice more to get rid of them. And that's why the Scottish (and American) imitations are poisonous.
although the Irish do tend to favour the 3 distillations rather than two it does not make Whisky poisonous which is why Scotch Whisky is the world's leading drink when it comes to spirits.
schuette wrote:it's not so much the roasting but to the Scottish using peat which is used in the kiln or oven in which the malt is dried.
Oh, don't they have peat in Ireland? The difference is actually in the ovens. In Scotland they let the smoke through the malt, in Ireland it's kept separate.
And all the time in films I always hear 'give me an Irish' .....oh sorry what i meant to say was a 'Scotch on the rocks'...
Well, it always used to be Irish. Then prohibition killed the Irish whiskey industry, and by some dastardly means the Scottish distilleries managed to get their feet in the door subsequently. (And that's why American paint-stripper brands spell "Whiskey" with an E )
So it had nothing to do with the quality of the product.
The little devil loves to torment me when I don't get my information right. Ha ha! 
I knew it was either Scotland or Ireland! I just didn't know which. 
bloody yanks.... 
