European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 20, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Travel scotch Ages in a bonded warehouse at by the whisky must be aged three King scotch on the Trail of Scotland water of life Story and photos by Chuck Vinch Munich Bureau chief there Are a number of countries in Europe with Well deserved wine France is justifiably famous for its Germany has its own and sometimes it seems As if All of Italy sits astride a wine but theres Only one place in Europe where whisky reigns supreme the Amber liquid has become so identified with the place where it originates that its usually known simply As the history of scotch whisky is embodied in the 62mile whisky which links six of the biggest distilleries in Northeast Scotland Glen Glen Riddich and Glen Farlas All of which give Tours during the summer the scots we rent the first although they came to be among the historians Arent but the Art of distilling is thought to have been introduced to Scotland by Early Christian when the scots Learned of they soon perfected the whisky was so much a part of scotch life that it came to be known As a Isle gaelic for water of the first recorded mention of distilling is from the 15th by the end of the 16th Century it seemed As if everyone in Scotland was in the distilling the scottish parliament of the time tried to production of whisky because the overabundance of distillers was causing a Grain shortage in the in parliament passed legislation that called for taxes on a move that caused nothing but trouble for the next 200 illicit stills became a fact of and the underground Trade reached its Peak around the time England and Scotland were in controlling the distilling business was next to impossible for the distilling equipment at that time was Small and easy to the local who could see no Good reason for paying taxes on their own aided the bootleggers any Way they the wild scottish Countryside further frustrated government Revenue records show that in the Edinburgh area 408 stills were operating in the Only eight of them were by the More than half the whisky in Scotland was being made in legislation was passed that reduced the duty fees on whisky and called for a Flat licensing fee for All stills with a capacity of More than 40 this seemed reasonable to most of the and the distillation of whisky went from local Craft to big among the six distilleries on the whisky Glen Riddich is generally acknowledged to be the biggest in terms of located in the tiny Village of about Halfway Between Aberdeen and Glen Riddich is purported to be the most famous scotch whisky of William Grant and his sons built the Plant and it is still owned and operated by the Grant the first whisky flowed Here in the free tour of the distillery begins with a dazzling audiovisual show that traces the history of whisky distilling and the Grant family part in visitors Are then taken through the there Are four Basic Steps in the production of whisky distillation and the first three Steps combined can take less than a but the fourth can take during the whisky is stored in Oak by it must stay there for at least three but Many distillers leave it for eight and others As Long As 12 stripes Magazine