Researchers Discovered the Remnants of a Secret, Illegal Whisky Distillery in a Stunning Scottish Park

National Trust for Scotland Archaeologists in the Scottish Highlands discovered a fragment of copper with a spirited history. The piece belongs to a whisky still—a heating vessel used to distill the amber liquor—and it was found near a small stone hut called a bothy in the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve. Researchers think the site was once a secret whisky distillery, active after Scotland banned unlicensed private distillation in the 1780s.

“In the early 19th century, illicit whisky distilling in these hills became a real battle of wits between excise [tax] officers and distillers,” says Derek Alexander, the National Trust for Scotland’s head of archaeology, in a statement from the charity. “To find the remains of stills in these upland areas, you need to think like an excise officer. Those who distilled spirit in this bothy will have picked the location carefully to make sure they were well hidden.”

Whisky was developed first in either Ireland or Scotland, likely when medieval monks experimented with Mediterranean methods of distillation. They called their amber product “aqua vitae,” which is Latin for “water of life.”