So what is the correct spelling. Is it Whisky, or Whiskey? Well it seem to depends on where your from or what you’re talking about…

A Scotsman who spells Whisky with a n ‘e’, should be hand cuffed and thrown head first in the Dee,

In the USA and Ireland, it’s spelt with an ‘e’ but in Scotland it’s real ‘Whisky’.

So if you see Whisky and it has an ‘e’, only take it, if you get it for free!

For the name is not the same and it never will be, a dram is only a real dram, from a bottle of ‘Scotch Whisky’.

–Stanley Bruce via Scottish Gifts: Whisky or Whiskey

In short terms, Irish whiskey has the ‘e.’ Scotch whisky has no ‘e.’  So if you are talking about Scottish Whisky (Scotch) you don’t spell it with an ‘e’. Easy huh? Whisky is the spelling used in Scotland and for Canadian Rye. Whiskey is the spelling used in Ireland, the US and some other countries.

I can tell you as a whisky drinker, living in Greenock, Scotland, I don’t (and have never heard anyone else in Scotland) ask for a “Scotch” if I want to buy whisky – we just say Whisky or Malt or ask for the actual name of the whisky.

Quick Facts

  • Most Irish whiskey is distilled three times while Scotch, apart from Auchentoshan, is distilled twice.
  • To be called Scotch whisky the spirit must conform to the standards of the Scotch Whisky Order of 1990 (UK)
  • Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland. In Britain, the term whisky is usually taken to mean Scotch unless otherwise specified. Abroad, it is often referred to as “Scotch”.
  • Whicky is old – “To Friar John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae VIII bolls of malt.” — Exchequer Rolls 1494–95, vol x, p. 487.