Creme de mure
NotesA recipe can be found at the International Bartenders Association website. In France it is usually drunk as an apéritif before a meal or snack. Another explanation that has been offered is that Mayor Kir revived it during a year in which the ordinary white wine of the region was inferior and the crème de cassis helped to disguise the fact. Following the commercial development of crème de cassis in 1841, the cocktail became a popular regional café drink, but has since become creme de mure linked internationally with the name of Mayor Kir.
Replacing the crème de cassis with blackcurrant syrup is discouraged. All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial distilleries began introducing whisky made from wheat and rye in the late 18th century. All Scotch whisky must be aged immediately after distillation in oak barrels for at least three years. The first known written mention of Scotch whisky is in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland of 1494. Many Scotch whisky drinkers refer to a unit for drinking as a dram.
According to the Scotch Whisky Association, the word whisky comes from the Gaelic uisge beatha or usquebaugh, which means “water of life”. The earliest record of distillation in Scotland is in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland for 1494. To Friar John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae, VIII bolls of malt. Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, 1 June 1494. The Exchequer Rolls’ record crown income and expenditure and the quote records eight bolls of malt given to Friar John Cor to make aqua vitae over the previous year. Latin for “water of life” and was the general term for distilled spirits. This would be enough for 1,500 bottles, which suggests that distillation was well-established by the late 15th century.
The first known reference to a still for making “aquavite” in Scotland appears in the Aberdeen council registers, in a case heard in 1505 by the town’s bailies concerning the inheritance of goods belonging to a chaplain called Sir Andrew Gray, who died in 1504. It is probable that whisky was introduced to Scotland from Ireland as there is evidence of Irish whiskey dating back to 1405, which is nearly 100 years before it shows up in any Scottish. As a drink, Scotch whisky was a favourite of King James IV of Scotland. The Highland magistrates, themselves members of the landowning classes, had a lenient attitude to unlicensed distillers—all of whom would be tenants in the local area. They understood that the trade supported the rents paid. Imprisoned tenants would not be able to pay any rent. In 1823, Parliament eased restrictions on licensed distilleries with the “Excise Act”, while at the same time making it harder for the illegal stills to operate.
A farmer, George Smith, working under landlord the Duke of Gordon, was the first person in Scotland to take out a licence for a distillery under the new Act, founding the Glenlivet Distillery in 1824, to make single malt Scotch. Two events helped to increase whisky’s popularity. First was the introduction in 1831 of the column still. Scotch whisky in the United Kingdom.
