Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Whiskey

WHISKEY, a spirituous liquor, chiefly prepared in Scotland and Ireland, by distilling barley.

With respect to its relative salubrity, whiskey is doubtless preferable to any home-made brandy drawn from malt; as the former, though strong, is not very pungent, and, if properly distilled, it is free of any empyreumatic taste or smell.—A moderate, and occasional use of it, by way of cordial, after great bodily fatigue, may, to some hard-labouring persons, not be injurious; but, when such practice is carried to excess, as in Scotland and Ireland, it deserves severe animadversion; and, though the legislature has wisely imposed heavy duties on the distilleries, we fear that the immense consumption of this liquid fire, can be prevented only by the most rigorous measures.—If, however, the lower classes of people cannot be legally restrained in their vicious propensities, the only remedy left to the power of government, would be the prohibition of employing grain for such vile and destructive purposes.—See the article Spirits, p. 118.