Distilled Spirits Council of the United States States, most notably in the creation of the American Whiskey Trail and the reconstruction of the distillery built by George Washington near his home at Mount Vernon. Since 2000, DISCUS member companies and wholesalers have contributed more than $2.1 million to rebuild the distillery, which was one of the largest whiskey distilling operations in early America. Washington's Mount Vernon distillery marks the beginning of the organization's American Whiskey Trail, a DISCUS program promoting the cultural heritage and history of spirits in America. Launched in 2004, the trail features operating distilleries and historic sites in five states. Distilled Spirits Council of
Irish whiskey year since 1990. With exports growing by over 15% per annum, existing distilleries have been expanded and a number of new distilleries constructed. As of August 2017, Ireland has eighteen distilleries in operation, with at least a further sixteen in the planning stages. Only six of these have been operating long enough to have products sufficiently aged for sale, and only one of these was operating prior to 1975. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish (or 'Gaelic') "uisce beatha", meaning water of life. Irish whiskey was one of the earliest distilled drinks in Europe, arising around the