National Scotch Day—also known as Scotch Whisky Day—is a holiday that celebrates this popular malted barley drink that can only legally be produced in Scotland. Single malt Scotch whisky is made at a single distillery from only malted barley and water, and single grain Scotch can contain not only barley but other whole or malted grains as well. All of this means that anyone who is interested in celebrating this holiday is going to want to make sure they buy the real stuff and don’t end up buying just plain old whiskey.

The History of Scotch Whisky

Although we were unable to uncover the origins of National Scotch Day, we were able to find out the origins of Scotch whisky. According to historical records, Scotch was made prior to the end of the 15th century. By the 17th century, Scotch was such a hot commodity that the Scottish Parliament placed the first taxes on it. Over the next century or so, illicit stills and smuggling became rampant, so the Excise Act of 1823 was passed. This act sanctioned whisky distillation procedures and instituted a license fee of £10. From that point on, Scotch whisky production became a more regulated and reliable product.

Facts About Scotch Whisky

Since we’re talking about the finer points of Scotch whisky, we might as well dig down and spend some time talking about some of the fun facts we’ve unearthed about it during our research phase. Below are some facts that will persuade just about anyone reading it that this type of whisky is different from all of the other whiskies available.

• It’s been estimated that Scotch whisky generates over £125 a second for Scotland.
• Every year, Scotland exports over 99 million cases of Scotch. That’s almost 40 bottles of Scotch being exported every single second of every day.
• At any one time, Scotland has 20 million casks of Scotch whisky maturing.
• The term “whisky” means “water of life” in Gaelic.
• Scotch whisky has to age for a minimum of 3 years before it can officially be called Scotch.
• A single malt Scotch may end up being produced from several different casks in a single distillery.
• Between 1757 and 1760, licensed Scotch whisky production was halted due to a poor barley harvest.

Observing National Scotch Day

National Scotch Day is a holiday that can be celebrated by enjoying a glass of fine Scotch. Just be sure that if you’re celebrating this day, you purchase real Scotch whisky. Remember, if it’s produced in the U.S., or anyplace else other than Scotland, then it’s not Scotch whisky—it can only be called whisky. And while you’re celebrating this holiday, why not use the hashtag #NationalScotchDay on your social media accounts to let everyone know that you’re spending the day drinking…umm, we mean celebrating.