What if we could take you back to a time before whisky was whisky as we know it today?

Before years of maturation in oak barrels became part of the process. Before the familiar amber spirit we recognise today.

We've been exploring a rather fascinating piece of whisky history, and today we're delighted to share the result.

Introducing Usquebaugh.

A recipe lost to time

Scribed into a leather tome worn by three centuries, an early record offers a glimpse of what whisky was once like.

Written down around 100 years before barrel ageing became common practice, it takes us back to a very different era of spirit making.

The name itself is part of the story.

Usquebaugh (pronounced oosh-ke-bah) comes from the old Gaelic expression meaning water of life, from which the word whisky eventually evolved.

But the drink described in those early records was rather different from the whisky we know today.

Before oak barrels became central to whisky's identity, spirits could be flavoured with herbs, spices and other botanicals.

It's a fascinating reminder that the history of whisky isn't quite as straightforward as we might imagine.

Bringing an old idea back to life

Here at Auld Farm Distillery, we've always been curious about where spirits come from.

We spend an enormous amount of time looking forward, growing grain, making spirit and patiently waiting for our whisky to mature.

But sometimes it's just as interesting to look backwards.

To discover how people made and enjoyed spirits hundreds of years ago.

Usquebaugh is our way of exploring that history and sharing something a little unexpected.

A spirit inspired by an old tradition, brought back into the present.

There's something rather wonderful about opening a bottle and discovering a story that began centuries before you were born.

It's a little bit of history, a little bit of mystery and something quite different from what you might expect.

And after all the work that's gone into bringing it to life, we're thrilled that you can finally experience it for yourself.

Usquebaugh is available now.

An old story, rediscovered at the bottom of the world.