Whiskey – historically or indeed all distilled beverages have had a similar generic roots, they were exceptionally mystical and medicinal and traditions, culture of the day greatly entrusted them.
Simply put, a whisky belongs to a dynasty of spirits- made almost exclusively of cereals mixed with water- mashed and fermented to produce beer. Yes beer! More precisely “a distillers beer” very distant to the modern popular beverage of today. Which is then distilled and aged.
The art of distilling is generally believed to date back to antiquity and pre-dates known records, among what has been unearthed so far, there has been a varying amount of evidences and beliefs of the existence of the art of distillation in many ancient cultures. We now know that it was customary in the ancient world to keep these processes of distillation a secret in the hands of priests and religious houses, therefore much of the Greek and Roman writers have not been cited as referring to distillation, though Aristotle had spoken about sea water being capable of being rendered potable by distillation, he then adds that, wine and other liquids can be submitted to the same process, claiming that after these (liquids) have been converted into humid vapours they return to liquids.
The SCOTTISH AND THE IRISH are often pointed out to be the inventors of Whisky, understandably so as there are evidences of the existence of a whisky like liquid in Scotland and Ireland in pre-historic era. Archaeological evidence also suggest that these whisky like liquids were present rooted in Eastern Folklore, For instance in many works on the chemical history of Modern Europe the Arabians are credited, they are believed to have transferred the know-how of distillation to Southern Europe. Gerber (about 800) and his followers in the following centuries are often being cited as the inventors of distillation in Europe.