History of whisky - part 2

Increased taxation forced a large number of the distillers underground and into the Highlands. One of the big problems was that the farmland in the Highlands is quite poor and the subsequent quality of barley not so good, thus poor prices. Distilling whisky from this barley was therefore the best option and a key additional income to the subsistence farming of that time. So as this was so critical, whisky making continued albeit illicitly.

The whole issue sometimes took on farcical proportions when, for example, the Excise men started offering rewards for information on illegal stills. This often ended up with farmers getting their acquaintances to inform on a still they set-up which was worn out through use, and take the reward to pay for a new still which would then be hidden away for a few more years of production.

The smuggling that went on at that time was considered to be almost patriotic, as it was seen as a rebellion against the taxes imposed by the English central government. A point not lost I’m sure on a more recent government when they attempted to introduce a new Poll tax in the 1980’s!

Robert Burns even wrote about it saying “Freedom and Whisky do together” .

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