Whisky is the distillate from the fermented mash of malt, or unmalted cereals, the starch of which is converted by malt, and which contains all the natural volatile principles which are present in the malt or formed at the time of fermentation congeneric with ethyl alcohol and which are volatile at the ordinary temperatures of distillation.

This general definition of whisky will be sufficient to distinguish it from pure ethyl alcohol or what is known as velvet, neutral or cologne spirit in the United States, and silent spirits in Great Britain.

1 Drinks of the World, by James Mew and John Ashton, published in 1892 in London.