Did You Know: “Whisky” & “Whiskey” Are Both Correctly Spelled?

Did you know that “whisky” and “whiskey” are both accurate spellings?

The difference is primarily due to geography. Taken from Wikipedia’s section on “Names and spellings” for “whisky”:

The spelling whisky (plural: whiskies) is generally used in Canada, Japan, Scotland, England, and Wales—while whiskey (plural: whiskeys) is more common in Ireland and the United States. The usage is not always consistent. For example, some prominent American brands, such as George Dickel, Maker’s Mark, and Old Forester (all made by different companies), use the ‘whisky’ spelling on their labels, and the US legal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits document also uses the ‘whisky’ spelling.

And, according to Master of Malt:

The variation in spelling originated during the 19th century. For in around 1870, Scotch whisky was of very low quality, much of it being distilled poorly in Coffey stills. For exportation to America, the Irish distillers wanted to differentiate their product from the poorer Scotch whisky, thus they added the ‘e’ to mark the crucial distinction. Today, Scotch whisky has become one of the world’s greatest spirits, but the spelling still differs. On mass, Americans still spell their spirit with an ‘e’, though legally it is spelt ‘whisky’. A few distillers, Maker’s Mark and George Dickel for example, prefer the Scottish spelling, this is to be attributed to their Scottish ancestry.

So what do you need to know? Regardless of where the whisk(e)y comes from or how it’s spelled, there are unique enough variations between all of the distilleries and years that you’ll never get bored with discovering new ones!