Whiskey Bottom Road largest remaining stand of woods in Laurel. The majority of these woods were cleared in 2010 for the North Laurel Community Center. The road name has been spelled Whisky Bottom Road" and more recently, Whiskey Bottom Road". Although both are valid spellings, the later name associates it with liquor distilled in America or Ireland rather than Canada, Japan or Wales. Western sections of the original road ran past the farm of the Scaggs family, in Scaggsville, Maryland, and have the name Scaggsville Road. Just like Whiskey Bottom, the name Scaggsville was considered distasteful enough to warrant a name change by
Irish whiskey 12th century (see Distilled beverage). It is believed that Irish monks brought the technique of distilling perfumes back to Ireland from their travels to the Mediterranean countries around 1000 A.D. The Irish then modified this technique to obtain a drinkable spirit. Although termed "whiskey", the spirit produced during this period would have differed from what we currently recognise as whiskey. The "uisce beatha" or whiskey produced in historical times would not have been aged, and was often flavoured with aromatic herbs such as mint, thyme or anise. Irish Mist, a whiskey liqueur launched in 1963, is purportedly based on such