Plural of whiskey; strong alcoholic drinks made from fermented grain that are aged in wooden barrels.
From Irish Gaelic 'uisce beatha' meaning 'water of life,' which was shortened to 'usky' and then anglicized to 'whiskey.' The Scots and Irish both claim to have invented whiskey around the 15th century. The spelling varies between 'whiskey' (Irish/American) and 'whisky' (Scottish) to this day.
The phrase 'water of life' reveals how important whiskey was to Celtic cultures—they didn't call it 'burning liquid' or 'drunk juice,' but something sacred, which tells you how central it was to medicine, trade, and community life.
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