One of my own ancestral lands is reinvigorating its heritage. Scotland is well known for many things: tartans and kilts, Sean Connery, claymores, the bagpipes, starship engineers and whisky.

Whisky is what we discussing here in this post. The word descends from the ancient tongues and refers to "water of life." In that fine tradition of ancient elixirs, a distillery in Scotland looks to reassert the "potent" part of potables. The real firewater or usquebaugh-baul is a lean, mean weapons grade whisky weighing in a sturdy 184 proof or 92% alcohol.

From the TImesOnline UK:

A single drop of the ancient drink of “usquebaugh-baul” was described by the travel writer Martin Martin in 1695 as powerful enough to affect “all members of the body”. He added: “Two spoonfuls of this last liquor is a sufficient dose; if any man should exceed this, it would presently stop his breath, and endanger his life.”

Apparently, the power comes in the distillation process. Most scotch whiskys are distilled twice. This batch of malt will be quadruple distilled. The flavor will be both potent and intense. I'd try it but I couldn't imagine developing this stuff as a habit. Of course they're going to probably price it like was from a batch in 1695 so the odds of me getting a bit are quite slim.

Anyway, if there's anyone with both the money and cahoneys to get a taste, please, drop me a line.

Technorati Tags: whisky, scotch, Bruichladdich distilleries

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