[Sca-cooks] Hard liquor in period recipes, was Adamantius pants?

[Terry Decker]

IIRC, this is just historical misinformation origin put out by a distillery 
PR flak.  Jabir ibn Hayyan produced an improved still around the beginning 
of the 9th Century and alembics have been used for many years, but the first 
practical distillation of alcohol appears about the beginning of the 14th 
Century.  Credit is often given to Arnaldus de Villa Nova (AKA Arnaud de 
Villenueve AKA Arnoldus Villanovanus) of the Monpellier medical school for 
the first distillation of brandy.

Bear

> i seem to recall reading that the irish were distilling whiskey in the 
> 12th century.
>
> cailte