Spelling of Scotch whisk(e)y

[eelbrook]

I've recently been looking at a number of Victorian silver/crystal "noggins".

Several have silver nameplates on chains around their necks.

Virtually all such nameplates read "whiskey" with an "e", which surprised me given that they were almost certainly produced for the British market.

Did we spell Scotch whisky differently in times past?

[Forbes]

Not that I am aware of.

[eelbrook]

Just found the following on www.scotchwhisky,com


"The spelling of Scotch whisky (no ‘e’) is enshrined in law. The same applies to Canadian whisky, while Japan, England, Wales, the Nordics, Australia (you get my drift) follow that lead. As you correctly point out, American and Irish producers use the alternate spelling, with the ‘e’. Mostly.

These spellings were, however, only fixed in the 20th century. Up until then, the extra ‘e’ was being flung around as if at a rave in the 1990s. Some distillers – be they in Scotland, Ireland, or the US – used the ‘e’. Others didn’t."