There was distillation going on in England in the middle ages, but probably to make medicine rather than booze [1]: https://distillatio.wordpress.com/2015/06/1

There was distillation going on in England in the middle ages, but probably to make medicine rather than booze [1]: https://distillatio.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/distillation-in-15th-century-england/ https://distillatio.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/distillation-in... As far as i know, the first widely-drunk spirit in England was brandy, imported from France by Dutch traders (hence the name, brandewijn = "burnt wine"). Gin and whisky both took off when England got into ones of its regular wars with France, and brandy became embarrassing to import. My best guess at why England was late to start making its own spirits is that we have a crummy climate but good trade links to the continent, so it was cheaper to import brandy than to make whisky or apple brandy. Whereas Ireland and Scotland have slightly crummier climates but far worse trade links, so domestic distillation made sense there. [1] Which are different things - remember, "people say alcohol's a drug, it's not a drug, it's a drink".