To “E” Or Not To “E”…

The spelling of the word whiskey is somehow an argument…

I’ve been asked this question many times, “What is the correct spelling of whiskey?” There is no correct spelling. It is the norm in the United States and Ireland to spell it whiskey. (As an American, I tend to write “whiskey”.) Other countries (Scotland, Canada, Japan, etc…) tend to favor (or is it favour?) the whisky spelling. Makers Mark, Old Forester, and George Dickel (all American whiskeys) spell their brands without the “e”. Maybe by the time we all get around to accepting the metric system, we can all finally accept one spelling for our favorite brown liquor:)

There are no hard and fast rules and it is NOT the law to spell it one way or another. In the United States, the laws that decreed that bourbon whiskey can only be made in the U.S. use the spelling “whisky” throughout. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/27/5.22 Yes, even in Scotland, some of their historic documents use the “e” spelling!

If you should be so inclined toward accuracy, please note that the plural of whisky is whiskies and the plural of whiskey is whiskeys. Spelling is important, after all…