The Short Version
Kosar discusses the 1494 Scottish Exchequer record of malt supplied to Friar John Cor for making aquavitae. It documents production; it does not date the invention of whiskey.
Reference and Locator
Kevin R. Kosar, Whiskey: A Global History (Reaktion Books, 2010), printed pp. 39–40 (PDF sheets 41–42), “What (Little) the Historical Record Shows.”
Book details from the publisher’s distributor
How to Read This Evidence
A surviving account establishes that the recorded activity occurred by that date. Earlier production remains possible. Kosar’s discussion allows for that distinction; the record does not establish the style or maturation of modern Scotch whisky.
Find the Archival Record
National Records of Scotland identifies the 1494 entry in its Exchequer research guide. Scotland’s People catalogs the photographed record as E38/306, image IMGAAA00427. These institutional descriptions provide a route to the artifact; this reader does not claim a new transcription of the original manuscript.
National Records of Scotland: Exchequer records guide
Scotland’s People: the 1494 record and catalog reference
Try the Evidence Test
A dated account records malt supplied for making a spirit. Does that prove when the spirit was invented, or that this was the first person to make it?
