DOES ALCOHOL ADD DANGEROUS SUGAR TO YOUR BODY?

 STAY AVERAGE: DRINK IN MODERATION

Alcohol and sugar are two of the most commonly consumed substances in the world. Both can be found in a variety of foods and drinks, and both have been shown to have their plus points, particularly the latter. Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that provides essential energy to the body. Both items have, however, been linked to various health problems.

Alcohol (ethanol) is a toxin and is given metabolic preference by the body, to be broken down before other foods and drinks. Its effect on various tissues depends on its concentration in the blood over time. This is determined by how quickly alcohol is absorbed, distributed, metabolised, and excreted. After alcohol is swallowed, it is absorbed primarily from the small intestine into the veins that collect blood from the stomach and bowels and from the portal vein, which leads to the liver. From there it is carried to the liver, where it is exposed to enzymes and metabolised. The liver can break down, on average, a standard drink an hour. Any more than this makes a person tipsy and then drunk. This is because the liver can’t keep up with the intake, and the alcohol starts making its way through the body.

Food eaten with alcohol takes second place. The body will break down the alcohol first and then the food. If there is a lot of liquor consumed with food, the body will break down the food eaten into fat and store it in the body – the common storage areas are tummy and hips! Alcohol is often referred to as “empty calories”, meaning, it has no micro-nutrients in it. Micro- nutrients are things like vitamins and essential amino acids. Alcohol does provide energy, however, on its own it is not enough to sustain life for any length of time.

The main chemical pathway for breaking down alcohol is: Ethanol (alcohol) -> Acetaldehyde -> Acetate -> Water and CO2. Acetaldehyde is a toxic by-product and known carcinogen. Thankfully this by-product is short lived.

At each stage of the reaction, bonds are broken and energy released. Alcohol does provide calories, which is probably why it dulls the appetite. For example a person may have come home starving for dinner, had a beer and then not felt it was so urgent about eating after that.

While drinking too much alcohol is never a good idea, it can be part of a healthy diet when you drink in moderation. What you drink does matter, though: Certain alcoholic drinks contain a large amount of sugar, which decreases their value in your healthy eating plan. Other types of alcohol don't contain sugar, which makes them a better choice if you enjoy a drink on a regular basis.

Sugar in Alcohol

VERY ENTICING

A 4-ounce pina colada is one of the alcoholic beverages with the most sugar. It contains 28 grams of added sugar, though it all comes from ingredients other than the alcohol. A 4-ounce daiquiri has 6.7 grams of sugar, again none of it from the actual alcohol. Gin, rum, whisky and vodka don't contain any added sugar. Beer doesn't have added sugar either. A 1.5-ounce shot of creme de menthe contains a whopping 21 grams of sugar. A 5-ounce glass of red or white wine contains about 1 gram of sugar, which comes from the grapes rather than from added sugar.

Dangers of Sugar

The sugar to fuel your body should come from healthy foods, such as fruit, rather than foods that contain added sugar such as desserts. Too much added sugar puts you at a higher risk for obesity, hypertension, dental decay and the long-term risk of diabetes. It'll also elevate your triglycerides, which raises your chances of developing heart disease. According to the Mayo Clinic website, women shouldn't consume more than 6 teaspoons of sugar each day and men shouldn't have more than 9 teaspoons. That's equal to 24 and 36 grams, respectively. Choosing beer, wine or hard liquor rather than mixed cocktails can help you consume far less sugar. 

Current Recommendations

Drinking in moderation might actually be beneficial to your health. For example, drinking a glass of red wine can lower your risk of heart disease. That doesn't mean you can drink as much as you want, however. Women shouldn't have more than one drink per day and men should limit themselves to two drinks. One drink is equal to 1.5 ounces of hard liquor, such as whisky or rum, 5 ounces of wine or 12 ounces of beer. Regularly drinking more than this can lead to weight gain, just as eating too much sugar can. The calories in alcohol are empty calories, which means that the drinks don't also contain essential vitamins and minerals so the calories aren't contributing anything to your health. Over time, too many of these empty calories can cause you to put on excess weight, according to the USDA.

Non-Dietary Considerations

Excessive Drinking: Drinking too much alcohol causes you to become intoxicated, which can make driving dangerous. Being drunk also increases your risk of dangerous and violent behaviour. Alcohol misuse is associated with 88,000 premature deaths each year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Regularly drinking too much alcohol is also associated with an increase in your risk of developing breast, colon and liver cancer. You'll also be at a higher risk for cirrhosis of the liver and high blood pressure.

Calorie Count:  Alcoholic beverages are often high in calories, and most provide no real nutrients. Alcohol contains more calories per ounce than carbohydrates or protein. When you combine alcoholic beverages with high-calorie foods, you may end up eating more than you would have if you had eaten those same foods while consuming a nonalcoholic beverage. If you do drink alcoholic beverages, choose wisely, as some are much lower in calories than others.

Beer and Wine

Since alcohol is fermented sugar, there is a relation between the amount of alcohol and the number of calories. Therefore, if you drink something with a lower alcohol content, you are consuming fewer calories – assuming that both drinks are ‘dry’ (without residual sugar). Beer and wine tend to have the lowest number of calories per ounce among alcoholic drinks. Light beers have the fewest calories, with many containing fewer than 100 calories for a 12-ounce bottle, although some contain almost as many calories as regular beer. Red and white wine are also relatively low in calories, with between 100 and 125 calories per 5-ounce glass. Regular beer contains about 140 to 200 calories per 12-ounce bottle. Dessert wines are higher in sugar and may be reinforced or "fortified" with additional alcohol, bringing them up to about 165 calories per 3.5-ounce glass. Interestingly, a glass of champagne comes out relatively low on the calorie count.

Statistics from the NHS puts the calorie content of a 5% ABV pint of beer at 239kcal – roughly the same as a Mars bar. The average calorie content of a 175ml glass of 12% ABV wine is 133kcal. Logic would therefore dictate that beer might prove to be more fattening, but once again the evidence seems to be unclear at best. A 2015 review of studies cited by the BBC found that neither wine nor beer drinkers tend to gain weight in the short-term. The long term is definitely deleterious to both shape and health.

Hard Liquor

Hard liquor usually has more calories than beer or wine. Each fluid ounce of 80-proof distilled spirits, including rum, gin, whisky and vodka, contains 64 calories, making the typical 1.5-ounce serving about 96 calories. Liqueurs tend to be higher in calories, because they're higher in sugar. For example, a 1.5-ounce serving of chocolate liquor has 105 calories; the same-sized serving of coffee liquor has 175 calories.

Mixed Drinks

Mixed drinks tend to have the most calories of all, but some are better choices than others. A 4-ounce mimosa contains 80 calories, a 5-ounce wine spritzer or an 8-ounce rum-and-diet-cola about 100 calories. A 5-ounce bloody Mary and an 8-ounce Tom Collins both contain 120 calories, a Manhattan has 130 calories, a 3-ounce green apple martini contains about 150 calories and a 2.5-ounce martini or an 8-ounce whiskey sour contains 160 calories. Oversized cocktails, or those containing high-fat ingredients such as heavy cream or coconut cream, can be substantially higher in calories.

Recommended Consumption

Alcohol should only be consumed by people of legal drinking age and in moderation, which means women should have no more than one drink per day and men no more than two. Pregnant women should not consume alcohol and neither should those who have a history of alcoholism.

Can You Get a Beer Belly From Liquor?

A beer belly is just a term for the excess of abdominal fat around the middle, but it doesn't only occur from drinking beer. You can actually grow a belly from any number of foods and drinks. What matters is how many calories you consume, not necessarily where the calories come from. Because hard liquors alone have fewer calories than a beer, it might take longer for a beer belly to grow, but it's always possible when you're taking in more calories than you burn.

Beer Belly

A beer belly is really just the excess of abdominal fat. Beer doesn't necessarily have to be involved for you to develop the infamous beer belly. Drinking beer can certainly contribute to the growth of abdominal fat, according to Mayo Clinic, but it's the calories not the beer itself that causes this to happen. The average 12-ounce beer contains about 153 calories. If you drink too many beers, all those calories will likely translate to weight gain, which often happens around the middle. Many people enjoy unhealthy snacks, such as hot wings and potato skins, while they're having a beer or two. Those calories contribute to the development of a big gut, as well.

Liquor & A Beer Belly

Any type of alcohol can play a role in the formation of a beer belly, according to Mayo Clinic. Straight shots of hard liquor, such as vodka, rum, tequila and whisky contain about 64 calories per ounce, so it'll take longer for the calories to cause a beer belly, but it is possible. Mixed drinks that contain hard liquor can have similar amounts or many more calories than the average beer, however, and that means that liquor might be even more to blame than beer. A pina colada, for example, contains 245 calories, and a daiquiri has about 112 calories. Wine might be the exception, the Clinic notes. Wine may not contribute to a beer belly the same way liquor does, but further research is needed to determine if that's true and why it's the case.

Dangers of a Beer Belly

You might be self-conscious about your beer belly, but you should also worry about the implications it has for your health. The abdominal fat characteristic of a beer belly is called visceral fat. Carrying around excess amounts of visceral fat raises your risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, according to Harvard Medical School. Too much visceral fat can also put you at a higher risk for colon cancer and sleep apnea. 

Tips and Considerations

If you have a beer belly, make an appointment with your doctor to create a plan that will help you lose the excess weight and improve your overall health and well-being. Because beer and alcohol can contribute to a beer belly, restrict your intake of both. Cut back to an occasional beer, shot of liquor or mixed cocktail. That will help you reduce how many calories you consume, which can translate to weight loss and the elimination of your beer belly. Eat a healthy diet and get plenty of exercise as additional ways to help you lose your belly.

Are Sugar-Free Beverages Dangerous?

Artificially sweetened beverages may lead to weight gain instead of weight loss. One potential reason for this is that people overcompensate for the calories saved by drinking these beverages and end up increasing their daily caloric intake. The sweeteners may increase sugar cravings, and thus the consumption of more sweets in the diet, which is another potential cause for weight gain. A third theory is that when you eat a sweet food that doesn't contain the calories your body expects to accompany the sweet taste, it isn't as satisfying, and this may cause food cravings as your body seeks out those expected calories.

Increased Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome Risk

Drinking diet soda isn't necessarily a good idea for people at risk for Type 2 diabetes. While a causal relationship hasn't been proven, a study published in "Diabetes Care" in January 2009 found that drinking diet soda at least once a day was associated with a 67 percent higher risk for developing Type 2 diabetes and a 36 percent higher risk for developing metabolic syndrome compared to not drinking diet soda.

Risk of Preterm Labour

Pregnant women may want to be particularly careful and avoid artificially sweetened beverages. A study published in "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" in June 2010 found that drinking this type of beverage may make you more likely to deliver prematurely. These results are preliminary, however, so further studies are necessary to confirm these findings.

Other Potential Risks

You can save calories by mixing alcohol with diet soda instead of regular soda, but this practice may make you more likely to become intoxicated, according to a study published in "Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research" in October 2011. Sugar helps slow down the release of alcohol from the stomach, so removing the sugar from the drink means the alcohol hits your bloodstream more quickly. Artificial sweeteners have also been linked by some studies to potential increases in the risk for low birth weight, cancer, migraines and liver problems, although these results are still controversial and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers artificial sweeteners to be generally regarded as safe.

This post is an update on the original post of 18 Dec 2021.

GLENDRONACH TO THE FORE

 RACHEL BARRIE PUSHES OUT THREE NEW END-2024 NAS EXPRESSIONS

It may be difficult to digest, but Glendronach has been a start and stop distillery from its founding way back in 1826, when James Allardice inherited the Boynsmill Estate and, partnering the locals, built his distillery there, producing what was called 'The guid Glendronach'. A destructive fire in 1837 virtually wrote off the well-performing distillery, leading to his bankruptcy in 1842.

Allardice’s promotional activities had however stood the whisky in good stead. Seeing its potential, one Walter Scott came forward in 1852, and rebuilt the distillery to its current condition, before passing it on to John Somerville & Co. in 1887. Following the Great War – during which period Glendronach fell into government ownership – the distillery was picked up by Captain Charles Grant, the youngest son of Glenfiddich founder William Grant in 1920, who went on to incorporate Glendronach Distillery Company in 1927. It remained with that family for 40 years.

Moving thus in fits and starts through a number of owners and companies, some illustrious, it reached William Teacher & Sons’ company in 1960, who used it copiously in its age-stated Blended Scotch whiskies successfully through the 1960s and further, till subsumed by Allied Distillers in 1976. Two 12-year-old expressions were released in 1991– one aged in ex-Bourbon, one in ex-Sherry – a real innovation for the time due to the fledgling scotch single malt market, followed by the original version of The Glendronach 15-Year-Old, bottled at 40% ABV. Unfortunately, the brands never received any serious backing and the distillery was ultimately mothballed.

After nine separate owners through nearly two centuries, the distillery along with 35,000 casks of maturing whisky finally ended up with The BenRiach Distillery Company, owned by Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey producer, Brown-Forman in 2008. In 2009, The Glendronach 15-Year-Old was reintroduced, bearing the expression name ‘Revival’, as part of the brand’s new core range. These age statement bottlings contained considerably older stocks – the peak for The Glendronach 15-Year-Old was in 2015, when consumers were actually enjoying a 21-Year-Old whisky. One didn't need a crystal ball to make a forecast!

The Glendronach’s rapid growth in popularity and demand led to the expression’s discontinuation in 2015, due to a lack of maturing stocks and the need to preserve the older aged stocks. In 2018, The Glendronach 15-Year-Old returned to the brand’s core range, with one difference– there were no 21-year-olds in the mix. One of the most popular sherried single malt whiskies on the market, the Glendronach Revival 15-Year-Old proved itself as a multi-award-winning release, including the ‘Best in Show’ whisky category winner at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (2020).

Master Blender Rachel Barrie joined Benriach in 2017 and has been the driving force behind four new releases. First came the The GlenDronach Cask Strength release in 2023. Batch 12 of this NAS 58.2% ABV release boasts exceptional depths of sherry cask maturation, carrying forth the legacy of James Allardice, marrying Highland spirit to Spanish oak. As with all expressions of The GlenDronach, the natural colour is drawn from slow maturation in PX and Oloroso sherry casks from Andalucía in Spain.

This hugely popular dram made its first appearance back in 2012 and remains a top-class combination of Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks bottled without colouring or chill filtration at its natural cask strength, around an average strength of 58% ABV.

Now we have three more NAS releases, in The Master’s Anthology, a collection of Highland Single Malts celebrating almost 200 years of expertise in crafting rich and complex single malts. Each expression is composed to celebrate a different aspect of the rich and rewarding Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky; Ode to The Valley, Ode to The Embers and Ode to The Dark.

Drawing upon decades of skill and dedication, the releases explore the aromatic depth and character of The Glendronach’s signature sherry cask whisky, culminating in some of the richest, darkest expressions ever crafted from the historic Boynsmill House, a tribute to the art of sherry cask maturation.

The Ode to The Valley—46.2% ABV, RRP £67— is a fruit-forward expression of floral nectar and summer berry notes, matured in port and sherry casks. A rare peated expression, the Ode to The Embers —48.4% ABV, RRP £72—blends smoky peat with spiced richness from Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez casks. The richest expression, the Ode to The Dark—50.8% ABV, RRP £77—offers notes of layered chocolate, black cherry, and dates, matured in Pedro Ximénez casks.

The collection, launched this month, will become part of Glendronach's permanent portfolio, alongside its age-statement core range. Currently available in Germany and the UK, it will be available globally through 2025.

 

WHISKY OR WHISKEY?

A RELOOK AT THE PEG OF SCOTCH

Aqua vitae (‘water of life’ in Latin) was the generic term for distilled spirits throughout the Roman Empire, widely used during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and translated into many languages. In Gaelic, it was uisge beatha, in Irish uisce beatha. Whisky connoisseur Charles MacLean says that this was Anglicised from uiskie (c.1618) to whiskie (1715) to whisky (1746). F Paul Pacult, the author of ‘A Double Scotch’, 2005, says that Aqua Vitae ultimately became whisky in 1736.

THE WHISKY VERSUS WHISKEY DEBATE

In a quick research, I first found the spelling Whiskey in the third description of the Malt Tax Act of 1725 as printed in 1785. Subsequently, I found both spellings used equally widely, even in the British Parliament. Such variations were not uncommon, given the number of bodies passing local Acts and signing them on the basis of the Malt Tax Act, whether in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow or Dublin. In fact, the Hansard of 1896 uses just the one term 'Whiskey'. Whisky or whiskey is by convention, not law: the Royal Commission on Whiskey and Other Potable Spirits (1908/09) spelt both Irish and Scotch with an ‘e’ throughout.

Interestingly, it was the Irish Association headed by the 'Big Four' (John Jameson & Son, John Power & Son, George Roe & Co. and Willam Jameson & Co.) who argued before the Commission that their triple-distilled pot spirit was infinitely better than that distilled in Scotland which contained inferior and virtually tasteless Patent Still distilled grain spirit and that the correct spelling was 'Whisky', to differentiate it from the plebeian Scottish and English 'Whiskey'.Rather ironic, one would say, looking back today at facts as they lay.

Gavin Smith writes in his A-Z of Whisky: "The first use of Scotch with the sense of specifically relating to whisky occurs in 1855, 'while malt liquors give our Scotch and Irish whiskies”…

I have already written that at least 92 nations/nation-states around the globe are trying their hand at making and selling whisky. Of these countries, all but four spell Aqua Vitae ‘Whisky’. The term ‘Whiskey’ is used in Ireland (since 1960), Mexico and Peru and for most, but not all, American brands.

Albania, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Corsica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Congo, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tasmania, The Philippines, Uruguay, Vietnam, Wales, Zimbabwe, Zambia & possibly a couple more spell it Whisky. 

The Americans keep their idiosyncratic asininity intact. George Dickel, Makers Mark, Old Forester and Rittenhouse Rye all use the “whisky” spelling for different reasons. Makers Mark uses the Scottish spelling of whisky as a nod to the Scottish heritage of their creator, T. William Samuels Sr. Similarly, George Dickel used this spelling because he believed his whisky was smooth and mellow like Scotch. Old Forester was produced before the “whiskey” spelling became mainstream in the US. Rittenhouse rye was originally produced by the Continental Distilling Corporation in Philadelphia, where they chose to drop the “e” for their rye ,but they kept the “e” for their bourbon. When Heaven Hill purchased the rights to Rittenhouse in the 1980s they kept that spelling.The US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau always uses the 'whisky' sans the 'e'.

North Korea's Samilpo has two blends, Black Label @ 40% ABV and Red Label @ 42% ABV in 620 ml bottles that resemble the Johnnie Walker bottles, except for that odd volume. Their third brand at 45% ABV is expected soon. Other than the numbers in volume and ABV, nothing is in English; I suppose whisky would be right since Kim loves Trump! Or would it be the concerned writer’s choice?

87 or 88/92 should be above par for concluding that the global spelling of this type of alcoholic beverage is whisky. Except for morons! Yes, the Yanks are up to it again, forcing one into American spellings in the software in use and putting out, by default, their spellings. OK, grant them their peccadilloes, but can't we have a simple tab on the keyboard to choose Type of English? The iPhone appears to be the main culprit.

THE DOMINANCE OF IRISH WHISKY

Irish whisky, triple distilled in pot stills, was once the most popular spirit in the world, reaching its zenith in the three decades between 1880-1910. Ireland boasted over 30 legal distilleries in the 1890s that each produced, litre for litre, more than comparable Scottish distilleries. At their peak, the distilleries in Dublin were the largest in the world, with a combined output of almost 10 million gallons per year. The major distilleries belonged to the Big Four, John Jameson & Son, John Power & Son, George Roe & Co., and William Jameson & Co, all from Dublin. The output of George Roe’s distilleries was more than all of Speyside and the Lowlands combined, and they dominated the markets not tightly controlled by the British Crown.

Jameson’s Midleton Distillery first opened with a whopping 31,618-gallon pot still (143,862 litres), which remains in situ within the historic distillery, and can be viewed as part of the tour at the Jameson Experience Midleton. The new stills at Midleton are currently the largest operational pot stills in the world. In a bid to hurt them in the early 1900s, Scottish distillers started to sell poor quality whiskies under Irish labels with impunity. They did set the Irish back, adding to the decline in production caused by poor harvests in Ireland for an extended period. The Scotch Whisky market, itself reeling from the Pattison Crash, was soon to recover due the Phylloxera Epidemic in France, which shut their wine and Cognac production down for over 30 years.

THE BRITISH IN INDIA

Changing tack entirely, The East India Company (EIC), having first landed on Indian soil in 1608, stated that they were only a trading company. Accepted without demur, they showed their true intent as they slowly but surely realised that India was a divided country, involved in internecine squabbles. The Islamic Mughals ran their empire from Delhi, fought off invaders from Persia, and were involved in far too many petty skirmishes. Exploiting this divide, the Brits turned into rapacious plunderers, looting Indian states with gay abandon. Shashi Tharoor, a polemicist of renown, avers in the annual Oxford Debate (2015) that the British Raj became what it was till WWII off 43 trillion GBP looted from India over 200 years.

In 1765, the EIC had an irregular army of 20,000 with a few Civil Servants strung out over the country and company-appointed British Army Officers under the command of one Major-General Stringer Lawrence. This would imply that there would have been at least three Brigadier Generals, six Cols, twelve majors and 48 Capt/Lts then.

The British Parliament now needed to shelter their troops as they fought in the French War, and 10 years later, against the Americans. So, the Crown did what they liked to do and made a decision that benefited British troops. They enacted the Quartering Acts of 1765, which stated that inns, stables, taverns, and wineries were required to house troops at the discretion of a British officer. Troops were allowed to take as they pleased, which would run taverns and wineries dry. This facility was accorded to the East India Company’s British officers and troops as well.

The cost of quartering troops would often fall on the shoulders of local landowners and Rajas. Eventually, their expenses were reimbursed by colonial kingdoms — not the British government. Soon, British troops started taking refuge in private homes. Without fear of penalty, they could barge into your house, kick you out of your bed, take your food, and tell you that you'd (maybe) be paid back in a few months.

As their reach expanded over India from Peshawar in the north to Sind in the west (in Pakistan now) and Rangoon (Yangon) in the east to the recaptured Madras in the South along the eastern coastline, so did their Armies, reaching 200,000 by 1790 and 260,000 by 1803. They dominated the Muslims who constituted the majority of the populace north of a line joining Pune (Poona) on the western coast and Bhubaneswar on the eastern coast (part of the Bengal Presidency). They also controlled Punjab. By now, they had established over 45 Residencies, one in every princely state they took over, under Residents, a Civil Service officer who was boss of all he could see, helped by around 6,000 sepoys under British Officers. The officers were housed in Cantonments and the sepoys in adjuncts to the official Cantonment. As a composite army, it was complete, with Artillery, Cavalry, Infantry, Sappers/ Miners and Staff Corps in a Commissariat. The British had arrived, bringing their customs along. Their Officers’ Messes became the focal point for whist, croquet, dinner dances and dining-in nights with their G&Ts, Claret, Port and Madeira. Perhaps a cigar as well!

After the Treaty of Salbai was concluded in 1782 between the British and Maharaja Mahadji Scindia of Gwalior, David Anderson, who contributed to drafting the treaty, was appointed resident at the Gwalior court. The fortress of Gwalior was captured by the Indians in the Great War of 1857, and recaptured by the Brits in 1858. The Resident had his own railway station, now used by the Army as their Institute (Club).

The Resident decided to take over the Maharaja of Scindia’s zenankhana, a magnificent palace near Morar, set up in ten acres of lush greenery with all luxuries available to the inmates of the harem, eunuch quarters included and located in the midst of its official estate of 750 acres with three villages included. The Residency was returned to the rightful owner after Indian Independence in 1947 and the Maharaja installed his Army Commander, General Rane there. In 1950, the Scindia rulers acceded to the new Union of India, and Gwalior state was absorbed into the new Indian state of Madhya Bharat, later Madhya Pradesh. The Residency was taken over by the Indian Govt. in 1951 and a school established there, with the three villages regaining their individual status. A decade later, the school and its ten acres of land was handed over to the Indian Air Force.

Immediately after the pompous Resident forcibly reoccupied the palace, life returned to the British ways of the world. The word burra means big/large and chota means small. Both are obviously relative. The Sahib would dress for dinner and at 1830 hrs, order his first drink, a burra peg of whisky (Blended Malt) and a siphon of soda. A little white or red wine with dinner and a chota peg of French brandy/cognac thereafter. The Brits were not known to be moderate drinkers, happy with just the one burra peg.

The term burra/chota peg could not have come before 1765; in all probability, it would have been introduced circa 1780. The British Crown assumed direct control of the Indian subcontinent in the form of the new British Raj in 1858 when the East India Company mishandled the Indian uprising of 1857. It assumed the Company's governmental functions and absorbed its navy and its armies. Blended Scotch would have arrived in 1860-61, initially in limited quantities, the volume increasing with time and expansion of the Industry post-1863.

The standard term ‘peg’ is a vestige of British colonialism and was/is used extensively in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and eastern Asia, i.e., wherever there were Indians to be found.

Starting in 1780, the only term used to define volume in the Indian Defence, Paramilitary and Police Forces was/is a peg. This is because the British overlords had decreed that every soldier/sailor would be issued four pegs of Rum every evening, requiring them to define the volume of a peg. 

When dealers in potable spirits changed over to glass bottles circa 1780-1810, the largest bottle suitable for enclosing spirits was a function of the type of furnace, the material used and the glassblower's lung capacity and dexterity. Most bottles came out in the 26.5-27.0 fluid-ounce capacity. The invention of the automatic glass bottle-blowing machine in 1880 industrialised the process of making bottles and sizing on demand.

One 26½ oz (750 ml) bottle was taken to hold 26 pegs, mathematically working out to 28.8 ml/peg. The 26½ oz bottle was thirteen (13) fingers tall, with a few ml (1/2 oz) left over at the very top of the neck. This extra 1/2 oz was then considered a provision made for evaporation in the Raj’s hot weather and spillage; the hourglass-shaped ‘peg measure’ poured out just that bit less. The standard measure then became 28.4 ml, one Imperial ounce. The field ration was thus two fingers in height, from the top of the forefinger to the underside of the middle finger when held horizontally across a bottle (four pegs).

THE PATIALA PEG

In the Punjab of yore, the hefty Sardars (Sikhs) refused to accept the then piffling ration. The Maharaja of Patiala, with one eye on the British, solved this problem by a covert redefinition of the peg. He ruled that all Sikhs would be given two “Patiala pegs.” A Patiala peg is the amount of liquor poured into a standard glass and equal to the height between the top of the index finger and the bottom of the little finger of the stoutest Sardar around when held parallel to one another across the sides of the bottle. The middle and ring fingers would be folded inwards, so the basic tenet of two-finger rationing was observed, if only in spirit.

Today, a peg that represented 28.4 ml, one Imperial ounce, or 29.57 ml (one US oz) has been increased to 30 ml for convenience in bars on civvy street.

JOHNNIE WALKER BLACK LABEL TRIPLE CASK NAS

JOHNNIE WALKER BLACK LABEL NAS

THE JOHNNIE WALKER BLACK LABEL 12 YO: Let's first take a step back in history. You wouldn’t be far wrong in saying that Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 YO was a true icon, recognised as the benchmark for all other deluxe blends globally from 1920-2005. It was at top spot in Asia from the mid 1980s till 2005. Phipson’s Black Dog ruled the roost in Asia from 1889 to 1980. Something Special came to the fore between 1960 and 2005, when it was packed off to South America to leave the market open for Chivas Regal to strengthen its hold of numero uno in China and Asia. Johnnie Walker Black Label, created using only whiskies aged for a minimum of 12 years from the four corners of Scotland, had an unmistakably smooth, deep, complex character, now lost to the masses.

Yesterday's Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Years Old Blended Scotch Whisky had Cardhu as its core malt, backed up with the super-smooth Glenkinchie, Dalwhinnie, Linkwood, Teaninich, the multi-faceted Cragganmore, Clynelish, Dailuaine, Talisker and Caol Ila. Today, the recognisable Single Malts for me are Clynelish, Cardhu, Caol Ila, Glenkinchie and Dalwhinnie. Mortlach, Linkwood and Dailuaine are lost to posterity. JW claims that there are at least 25-28 more Single Malts and they must be right; it is a 40-whisky blend, after all. The Single Malts need not be from different distilleries; any distillery can provide tens of Single Malts, of the same or different ages. I'm also quite certain that Roseisle, which has started releasing 12 YO single malts since end 2023, features in the overall blend. Diageo has also added Strathmill here, as it seems to be a standalone distillery producing malts for blending.

The recognisable Grain Whisky is Cameronbridge, probably of two or three different batches. Earlier versions also featured grain whiskies from Carsebridge, Port Dundas and Cambus. The first named is only a vague memory and the last two have closed. Their old stock, dwindling rapidly, is reserved for the really aged expressions like Blue Label and 21-50 YO one-of-a-kind bottlings. The saline and mildly smoky notes of Talisker are missing. Some of these 12 YOs, which are of both the peated and unpeated variety, are not sold in the market, and have, sadly, not been used for over five years, with detrimental effect on the Blend.

The slightly smoky taste comes from the Cragganmore and Caol Ila. The hint of peat comes primarily from Caol Ila, strengthened by Clynelish; the smoothness comes from Cardhu, Glenkinchie, Blair Athol and the grain whiskies that are used to tame and meld the malts perfectly. A 1-litre bottle of Black Label costs $ 28. A bottle of 0.70 L Caol Ila 12 YO costs $56, or $80 per litre. The Caol Ila 12 YO is far more expensive and Diageo is losing money on the peated malt diverted to making the Black and other Labels. The same is true for ALL other Single Malts that made up the once fabulous concoction of JW Black Label! The Malt whiskies tot up to 35-40%. The Grain whiskies, ~60%, are also 12 YO. The last one percent is taken up by E150A Caramel colourant.

It is rated as an impressive whisky to share on any occasion, whether you're entertaining at home with friends or on a memorable night out. But it has lost top spot amongst 12 YO Blended Scotch whiskies simply because Diageo has run out of single malts that met the original recipe. No amount of experimenting with other single malts-up to 35 or even more of them can replicate the Extra Special Old Highland 12 YO, the original name of the Black Label till 1909. Dewar’s 12 YO, Buchanan's Deluxe 12 YO, Grand Old Parr and Chivas Regal deluxe whiskies are rated higher than Black Label.

SURPRISE SURPRISE

NO AGE STATEMENT

Johnnie Walker Black Label Triple Cask Edition No Age Statement, an end 2018 release, is a limited-edition whisky inspired by the lighter flavours and aromas found in the iconic Johnnie Walker Black Label. Mostly available in travel retail stores, this new whisky offers travellers a new experience. You bet! This is the first time the Black Label has gone NAS!

This new expression has been crafted by Johnnie Walker Master Blender Jim Beveridge and expert blender Chris Clark using a blend of malt and grain whiskies from the usual distilleries and has been finished in casks previously used to mature American bourbon, then Scotch whisky, and finally Caribbean pot still rum. Unusual combo, this, as refill Scotch barrels are used in the finishing phase.

An interesting nose with more medicinal wafts taking the forefront than other Johnnie Walker releases. The nose is intriguing yet off the beaten track for Johnnie Walker — most probably due to the pot still rum barrel influence. Sweet for sure, it’s laden with notes of overripe fruit and features an ephemeral wisp of smoke.

The thin texture carries a predominant, almost ashy, burnt oak note which slowly builds sweeter with more wood sugars becoming present. Sawdust and coconut follow and the taste is rather malty, right through the heavy fruit influence. The oakiness becomes prominent, given its lack of smoke. The sweetness of the whisky lingers to the point of overwhelming the whisky’s other umami elements. Probably a high percentage of Roseisle, Blair Athol and Strathmill, with Cardhu the mainstay, as always.

The finish is of medium length and stays on the sweeter side with some honey on burnt toast and softly spiced vanilla ice cream.

Overall: Leave this one alone, at least till the price comes down to US$ 26-28.

THE ADVENT OF THE GLASS BOTTLE

HOW STANDARDS EVOLVED IN BOTTLING

WHISKY BOTTLES

Ancient civilizations kept their favourite fermented drinks safe in containers made of natural materials like clay, wood, and animal skins. The ancient Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans made elegant containers called amphorae. An amphora was a ceramic jar with long necks and two vertical handles for portability. Glass was also available, but extremely expensive and used mainly to create decorative pieces. Skilled glassblowers did create beautiful bottles with intricate shapes and details, functional works of art to be proudly displayed on the tables of kings and nobles, down to miniatures for perfumes, massage oils, skin lotions, etc. By the mid-17th century, they were still expensive, but the wealthy class had increased and more people could now afford them. They were mainly used as ‘serving bottles’ or decanters, rather than ‘binning bottles’ for storing wine in the cellar.

Glass pads, impressed with the owner’s mark or coat of arms, were attached to each bottle, and the bottles themselves were taken to be filled by the wine merchant, or filled in their owners’ cellar by the butler (i.e. ‘bottler’). Within only a decade or so, the middle classes were also able to afford glass bottles: Samuel Pepys records in his diary of 1663 that he ‘went to the  Mitre’ to see wine put into his ‘crested bottles’.

The earliest glass bottles had spherical bodies and long, parallel necks, with a rim at the top to hold down the string which kept the stopper in place. They are known as ‘shaft and globe bottles’. By 1700 the neck had begun to taper and the body to become compressed - these are ‘onion bottles’. They continued to be treasured, and in Scotland were commonly used as decanters for whisky in public houses. In the Highlands, it was traditional to give them as marriage gifts, crudely engraved with the names of the bride and groom, the date of the nuptials and even with an illustration of the event.

In 1643, the British Parliament introduced an excise duty on aqua vitae, in order to finance Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army. Between 1707 and 1823, tax on ‘spirituous liquors’ was increased on 17 occasions. Between 1786 and 1803, a span of 17 years, the duties on stills had increased by a factor of more than 77 times. To compound matters, a heavy tax on glass was introduced in 1746. The taxes meant that whisky distillers and drinkers started to look for alternative and discreet ways to store their whisky. Stone and ceramic pots and bottles became widely used as they provided a vessel that was both cheap and durable. Ceramic pots were also discreet, especially important if a distillery wanted to avoid paying their taxes. The durability of ceramic and stone became an increasingly important consideration as sea trade began to boom in the 18th century.

Between 1700 and 1720, the onion shape was sometimes exaggerated, so the body became wider than the height, then about 1720 the sides began to be flattened by rolling on a steel plate while the glass was cooling - a process called ‘marvering’ – in order to rack them in the ‘bins’ of the cellar.

Early marvered bottles were ‘mallet’ shaped, where the straight sides tapered away from the base, but over the next twenty years, they became taller and more cylindrical, particularly after 1740, by which time the value of maturing wine in the bottle was becoming generally recognised. By the mid-century, many wine and spirits merchants had their own bottles, with their name or trademark pressed into the glass pad, to be returned for refilling with whatever liquor was available.

It was the same story for most of the 19th century across the pond. Small oak barrels were the major package for selling bourbon to consumers. The distillers would sell the barrel either to a saloon or spirits shop, and that business would sell to the consumer. Very few retail establishments bottled the bourbon due cost of glass. Instead, they depended upon the consumer to bring their own flask or jug.

Honesty was at stake at some sellers, far more so in America which didn’t really care for core values in the land where a gun was the law. The problem was that the consumer only received what the spirits shop owner provided, whether sold out of the barrel and in the bottle. They would often water down the spirit or add fruit juice and brown sugar to darken the product and give it a sweeter taste. Even with the most honest retailers in the UK, the whisky would change in the anker, later the sherry or port barrel, as it was emptied and the spirit oxidised. Since customers never really knew what they were getting out of those barrels, consistency of the whisky became a problem.

The classic French wine bottle shapes familiar to us today had evolved by about 1800 – there was a huge growth in the number of glass factories in Bordeaux, particularly, which was producing around two million bottles a year by 1790. Bottles from this period can often be identified by a slight swelling around the base, caused by the glass ‘sagging’ while the bottle cooled in an upright position.

Until 1821 bottles were free-blown, which meant that capacities and dimensions were not standardised. So when one reads of hearty drinkers of the late 18th century downing three or four or even six bottles of wine at a sitting – this seems to have been especially common among Scottish judges of the period, who habitually drank claret while sitting in judgement – it might be supposed that the bottles of their time were smaller than those of today. Not so. Research done in the Ashmolean Museum in Cambridge shows that the average bottle size was if anything slightly larger than today.

In 1821 Henry Ricketts, a glass manufacturer in Bristol, patented a method of blowing bottles into three-piece moulds, which made it possible to standardise capacity and dimensions. Such moulds left seam marks – the way in which collectors identify them today – but during the 1850s a process was developed to remove these by lining the mould with beeswax and sawdust, and turning the bottle as it was cooling.

Until about 1850 all wine and spirits bottles were made from ‘black’ glass – in fact, it was very dark green or dark brown – owing to particles of iron in the sand used in their manufacture. Clear glass bottles and decanters were made, but they were taxed at eleven times the rate of black glass.

Indeed, owing to the Glass Tax, bottles remained expensive and continued to be hoarded and re-used until after 1845, when the duty on glass was abolished. The earliest known ‘whisky bottles’, such as a Macallan bottled by the local grocer in Craigellachie in 1841 (and reproduced in facsimile in 2003), were reused wine bottles. Even after the duty had been lifted and clear glass began to be used more, whisky makers continued to favour green glass bottles, often with glass seals on their shoulders. VAT 69 continues this style of bottle.

The Bottled-in-Bond(BIB) act of 1853 created a whole new market for bottled whisky by separating malt whisky from blended whisky in the marketplace. Each BIB’s tax stamp seal was a guarantee against tampering. The tax stamp also gave the consumer valuable information as to where and when the whisky was made and bottled. As a result, drinkers gained confidence in the quality of the whisky in the bottle, and they began to prefer bonded whisky to whisky sold from the barrel.

Many whisky companies continued to fill into small casks and stoneware jars and offered their goods in bulk. It was not until 1887 that Josiah Arnall and Howard Ashley patented the first mechanical bottle-blowing machine, allowing bottled whisky to really take off. In the trade bottled whisky was termed ‘cased goods’, since it was sold by the twelve-bottle lot packed into stout wooden cases, like top-quality wine today.

This time, events in America preceded practices in the UK. The fact that bottles were expensive in the 1870s makes what George Garvin Brown—later to become famous as Brown & Forman— did more remarkable. In 1870, Brown was spending his formative younger days as a pharmaceutical salesman and receiving complaints about the quality of the whisky his employer was selling changing over time. Brown may have been inspired by Hiram Walker who was selling Canadian Club in the bottle as well as the barrel at that time.

He crafted the idea of a bottled bourbon where the quality would not change. The fact that Walker’s Canadian Club was selling well by the bottle even at the additional expense proved that it could be done. He entered the whiskey business and Old Forrester (as it was originally spelled) was born; today’s Brown and Forman took root then. Old Forrester was sold only by the bottle to ensure the quality of the brand. Note that it wasn’t the first bottled bourbon, rather it was the first bourbon sold only by the bottle.

Bottled whisky, properly stoppered and sealed, was less liable to adulteration or dilution by unscrupulous publicans and spirits merchants than whisky sold in bulk, and during the 1890s cased goods became the commonest way for whisky to be sold, particularly in the off-trade.The invention of the automatic glass bottle-blowing machine in 1903 by Michael Owens industrialised the process of making bottles, making it much more efficient.

The use of plastic (polyethene) bottles, developed during the 1960s and adopted by soft drinks manufacturers, has largely been eschewed by the whisky industry, except for miniatures supplied to airlines. These bottles are called PETs – not a reference to their diminutive size, but to the material they are made from: Polyethylene Terephthalate. Their clear advantage is weight, and they began to become commonplace in the 1990s. Concerns about shelf-life and contamination by oxygen or carbon dioxide have been addressed since 1999 by coating the outside of the bottle with an epoxy-amine-based inhibiting barrier.

BOTTLE CAPACITIES

As mentioned in relation to William Younger’s examination of bottles from between 1660 – 1817 in the Ashmolean Museum, the capacity of wine (and therefore whisky) bottles remained relatively constant at around 30 Fl.Oz (1 1/2 pints) during this period, in spite of bottles being free-blown. 

With the introduction of moulded bottles in the 1820s it became much easier to standardise capacity, and this was fixed at 26 2/3 Fl.Oz (or one-sixth of a gallon, which is also equal to four-fifths of a U.S. quart).

In 19xx this capacity was defined by law for a standard bottle - along with 40 Fl.Oz  (equal to an Imperial quart – 2 pints), 13 1/3 Fl.Oz (half bottle), 6 2/3 Fl.Oz (quarter bottle), 3 4/5 Fl. Oz (miniature) – and in 19yy it was required that the capacity be stated on the label, along with the strength of the whisky.

American capacities are slightly different. 1 U.S. liquid pint = .832 Imperial pint (12 Fl.Oz.). Whisky was commonly sold by the Imperial quart (40 Fl.Oz) or by the ‘reputed quart’, 4/5th U.S. quart or 26 2/3 Fl.Oz.

From January 1980 capacities have been expressed metrically on bottle labels, in line with the Système International d’Unités, when 26 2/3 Fl.Oz became 75 cl, half bottles 37.5cl, quarter bottles 18.75cl and miniatures 5cl.

In 1992 the standard bottle size throughout the European Community was lowered to 70cl.

The United States retains fluid ounces, with the ‘reputed quart’ remaining the standard bottle size (75cl).

In Japan, both 75cl and 70cl bottles are acceptable.

BOTTLE NUMBERS  January 1884 – December 1909

During this period, some bottle-makers embossed a number in the base of their bottles. This is useful for dating bottles during the ‘Whisky Boom’. This list came from www.antiquebottles-glassworks.co.uk, an invaluable site for bottle collectors.

1884:   ****1 – 19753              1891:   163767 –                     1901:   368154 –

1885:   19754 –                       1892:   185713 –                     1902:   385088 –

1886:   40480 –                       1893:   205240 –                     1903:   402913 –

1887:  64520 –                        1894:   224720 –                     1904:   425017 –

1888:   90483 –                       1895:   246975 –                     1905:   447548 –

1889:   116648 –                     1896:   268392 –                     1906:   471486 –

1890:   141273 –                     1897:   291240 –                     1907:   493487 –

                                                1898:   311658 –                     1908:   518415 –

                                                1899:   331707 –                     1909:   534963 –

                                                1900:   351202 –

WHAT COLLECTORS ESTEEM

Age	Free-blown and moulded (pre-1870) bottles have ‘pontil marks’ on their bases, created by an iron rod, called a pontil, used to manipulate the molten glass.
Rarity	The fewer known examples, the more valuable the bottle will be.
Texture	Variations in glass surface, number of bubbles in the glass, stretch marks, or changes in colour.
Colour	Unusual, dark or strong colours, or a colour which is rare for that kind of bottle.
Embossed	Where bottles are embossed (uncommon in early whisky bottles), clarity of the embossing, its heaviness (heavier the better), its intricacy and the interest of the design or words.
Shape	The aesthetic quality of some bottles.
Labels	Any item with its original label, contents, carton or box is of more interest than an ‘empty’.

 AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH

Aqua Vitae was first distilled as a medicinal tonic, but its pleasant attendant corollaries were addictive, and by the end of the 17th century its popularity began to boom across the UK. Glass is inert and impermeable and so it was the perfect solution when the first distillers were looking for a way to effectively preserve and distribute their spirit to its ever-growing audience.

Glass whisky bottles were made by specialised glass blowers and were expensive to produce. A hand-blown bottle was typically between 600-800ml (60-80cl) because that was the average lung capacity of the glass blowers of the time. Due to the expense and luxury of the glass, the whisky connoisseurs of the 17th century would have taken their own bottles to be filled.

CERAMIC POTS: 1707-1850

Incessant taxation put serious strains on the whisky industry with many distilleries shutting down and some choosing to go underground and produced whisky illegally. A heavy tax on glass was also introduced in 1746. The taxes meant that whisky distillers and drinkers started to look for alternative and discreet ways to store their whisky.

Stone and ceramic pots and bottles became widely used as they provided a vessel that was both cheap and durable. Ceramic pots were also discreet, especially important if a distillery wanted to avoid paying their taxes.

The durability of ceramic and stone became an increasingly important consideration as sea trade began to boom in the 18th century.

The taxes and booming sea trade are also linked to the dawning rise in popularity of miniatures. Miniatures provided a practical solution for sailors as they were cheaper than full bottles but the other cheap alternatives – beer and wine, which had been favourites at the time – did not fare well at sea.  Miniature spirits mixed with sours became sailors’ tipple of choice.

In the early 1900s, bottle sizes became standardised in UK law

A MINIATURE BOOM: 1850-1970

At the turn of the 20th century, as taxes on alcohol continued to soar and two World Wars took their toll, miniatures became increasingly popular on land due to their affordability. Throughout the first and second World Wars buying a standard size bottle was considered frivolous spending. A miniature on the other hand provided a more economical option, allowing an occasional indulgence without having to splash out on a whole bottle.

STANDARDISING BOTTLE SIZE

When was bottle size first standardised in the UK?

In the early 1900s, bottle sizes became standardised in UK law. The standard was set as 26 2/3 fluid ounces, which was simply the average size of the traditional bottles produced by glass blowers in the 17th century.

This standard was used until the start of 1980 when metric volume was introduced.

The standard size for Scotch whisky bottles changed to 70cl in 1990

When was metric bottle size introduced for whisky bottles?

On the 1st January 1980 the global standard for wine, spirit and liqueur bottles came into force converting liquid ounces to metric volume. Standard whisky bottle size was set at 750 ml, also commonly denoted as 75cl. This is the standard still used in much of the world today, including the USA.

What is the standard bottle size for Scotch whisky?

On the 1st of January 1990, the European Union updated their standard bottle size for spirits to 70cl or 700ml. This was because a 700ml bottle is an ideal volume for pubs, clubs, and bars, which have the option of selling 25ml or 35ml measures.

Since the 1st of January 1990, the standard bottle size used by the Scotch whisky industry has been 70cl.

Can I use standard bottle sizes to date my whisky bottle?

The set dates mentioned above mean that for Scotch whisky, bottle size can be used as an indicator of the bottling era. That being said, care must still be taken as bottles designed for export for example to the USA are still 75cl, and so other factors must be considered also.

As well as a variation in the size of miniature bottles, half bottles – whether 13 1/3 Fl oz, 37.5cl or 35cl – have been popular throughout the last century of whisky drinking. Even quarter bottles can occasionally be found for curious collectors so bottle size should always be used with other indicators for accurate dating.

THE 21st CENTURY: AN UNSTANDARDISED STANDARD

While the official bottle size for whisky and other spirits is set across most of the world and has been set for many years, as mentioned above, you still will find a large variation in bottle sizes. And one that is only increasing.

As whisky increases in value bottlers look at different ways to appeal to and provide value for their drinkers. Many Japanese whiskies for example are bottled at 50cl and this trend for smaller-than-standard bottle sizes is one that is expanding in the modern single malt Scotch whisky market too.

Smaller bottles, such as 50cl offerings, are becoming increasingly common. Similar to the appeal of miniatures at the start of the last century, 50cl bottles offer a more accessible way to indulge in your favourite tipple. As well as reducing the volume and therefore cost of the whisky, smaller bottle sizes reduce the VAT and duty due on the bottle, again offering a more attractive proposition for drinkers – and a more accessible entry point to appeal to new drinkers – while allowing bottlers to maintain their own margins on more expensive casks.

Whatever your feelings on whisky bottle sizes and the reasons behind why they change, the history of the whisky bottle has shown us that preferences change regularly and for a myriad of reasons.

These days you can even get whisky in a pouch, so who knows what will be next.

Why a Pint is Bigger in the UK Than in the US

An American will find a pint of beer in London looking similar to his customary pint back home, but, given the amount of the golden-brown, oddly warm liquid sloshing around in the glass vessel, it will seem to be much larger!

How Big Is a Pint?

This is because a pint in the United Kingdom is bigger than a pint in the United States. The UK pint is 20 fluid ounces, while the US pint fills up 16 fl oz. However, this translation is not that simple, as fluid ounces do not equal one another across the Atlantic. Here is the breakdown of volume between the two countries:

• The British Imperial fluid ounce is equal to 28.413 millilitres, while the US Customary fluid ounce is 29.573 ml.
• The British Imperial pint is 568.261 ml (20 fluid ounces), while the US Customary pint is 473.176 ml (16 fl oz).
• The British Imperial quart is 1.13 litres (40 fl oz), while the US Customary quart is 0.94 L (32 fl oz).
• The British Imperial gallon is 4.54 L (160 fl oz), while the US Customary gallon is 3.78 L (128 fl oz). 

BACKGROUND OF ENGLISH UNITS

At the root of this divide is the difference in measurement systems. While the American system of measurement often is referred to as the Imperial System, this usage is erroneous. The US, ever since the formative years of the New World nation, has used the US Customary System. The Imperial System, alternatively, was established in 1824 for Great Britain and its colonies. Even today, decades after officially switching to SI (metric) units, volume in the UK is measured in British Imperial units. Both these systems, however, are derived from English units. English units were in use until the early 1800s, and they saw a vast range of influences due to the frenzied history of the British Isles. This historical precedence spanned a millennium, so, to keep things short: the Celtic Britons lived in modern-day Britain, and they were at war with Roman invaders for the first few centuries AD. After the Romans left, the Celts were invaded and displaced by the Anglo-Saxons, who were dominated by the Normans.

This resulted in a plethora of units of measurement. Many Anglo-Saxon units had some basis in the people’s agricultural past. For example, 3 barleycorns equalled 1 ynce (inch), and an acre was considered a field the size a farmer could plough in a single day. The foot, obviously having a connection to the length of the human appendage, was in use, but it had various conflicting specifications.

This resulted in a plethora of units of measurement. Many Anglo-Saxon units had some basis in the people’s agricultural past. For example, 3 barleycorns equalled 1 ynce (inch), and an acre was considered a field the size a farmer could plough in a single day. The foot, obviously having a connection to the length of the human appendage, was in use, but it had various conflicting specifications.

The Norman kings brought Roman measurements to Britain, specifically the 12-inch foot and the mile, which was defined originally as the length of 1000 paces of a Roman legion. If you’d like to read more about this background, please refer to my post on the simple peg measure in Whisky vs the non-conformal Whiskey.

The metric tonne is 1000 Kg. Since 1 Kg=2.2046 lbs, one metric tonne = 2204.6 lbs.

We have left the SI or Metric System out since our discussion is on volumetric measures, but that doesn’t hide the fact that both countries have not fully adjusted to global measures. How long will they bask in lost memories of deluded grandeur? 

The article on the UK pint vs the US pint has been taken from an ansi.org Blog post of 22/6/2018.