I love words.

And I enjoy discovering the origins of the words we use every day to communicate. I have always liked the sound of this place - Uisge Bhan Falls. It is a waterfall located at the end of a provincial walking trail outside Baddeck. Its name is Gaelic for white water.

Uisge – pronounced oosh-ka – means water; ban means white. I like that it describes what happens there. It makes sense. But I also really like the way it sounds when you say ‘uisge’.

Say it aloud a few times. Oosh-ka. Oooosssh-ka. Play with the word; let it roll around your tongue, lengthening the o-o vowel. Ooosh-ka. You can begin to hear the beginnings of another word.

Uisge is the root for the word ‘whisky’. 

In Latin, distilled liquor is known as ‘water of life’ -  aqua vitea. Translated into Gaelic in the Middle Ages, it became uisge beatha – water of life.

Water is also important to the distillation process.  You must have good ooosh-ka to get good whisky.

Owners of the Glenora Distillery say a high profile of distilled liquors on the TV show ‘Mad Men’ has led to an increased demand for their products.