Bourbon whiskey bourbon to be a "distinctive product of the United States" and asked "the appropriate agencies of the United States Government ... [to] take appropriate action to prohibit importation into the United States of whiskey designated as 'Bourbon Whiskey'." Federal regulation now defines bourbon whiskey to only include bourbon produced in the United States. In recent years, bourbon and Tennessee whiskey – sometimes regarded as a different type of spirit but generally meets the legal requirements to be called bourbon – have enjoyed significant growth in popularity. The industry trade group Distilled Spirits Council of the United States tracks sales 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