E on our faces
As a true Scotophile I was very happy to see the nice article about my hero, Robert Burns! [The Land of Forgotten Cocktails, January 2009] This time of year, I usually come across something relating to him and to Bonny Scotland.
As I read the article, I started to flinch, because in trying to savor all the information coming my way I was constantly being stressed out by the spelling of “whisky.” If you choose to use the word referring to scotch — either blended or the dearly loved single malt — the correct spelling is whisky, not whiskey.
You can check your resources, but my resources, being many trips to Scotland and many “wee drams,” prove the bottle always has “whisky” on the label, not “whiskey.” “Whiskey” is the Irish spelling. This article being about Robert Burns, Rob Roy and all things Scottish, the spelling should be “whisky”!
Thank you for the nice article. Other than the misspelling, it was very informative. Long live Scotland and happy birthday, Robert Burns.
—Marilyn Kourinos, Falmouth
[Editor’s note: The writer is correct. Though the Bollard style manual dictates we use “whiskey” when referring to the spirit in general, specific references to Scotch should be spelled “whisky.” Next time, we’ll drink less Scotch whisky while editing. — C.B.]
