Plural of whiskey

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The Quick Answer
The plural of whiskey is whiskeys.
The plural of whisky is whiskies.

The Plural of Whiskey

Before learning about the plural of whiskey, it is worth learning about the difference between whiskey and whisky. In Scotland, they make Scotch whisky, but in Ireland, they make Irish whiskey.

The plural of whiskey is whiskeys.
  • Most Irish whiskeys are distilled from barley that’s dried in kilns.
The plural of whisky is whiskies.
  • Most Scotch whiskies are made from barley that’s dried over peat smoke.
The nouns whiskey and whisky adhere to the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English (shown in the table below).

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The Standard Rules for Forming the Plurals

The table below shows the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English.
Type Example of Type Forming the Plural Plural
Most Nouns lamp
scythe		 add s lamps
scythes
Noun Ending s, sh, ch, x or z bus
dress		 add es buses
dresses
Nouns ending [consonant] o hero
zero
tomato		 add either s or es
(There are no rules for this - you have to know.)		 heroes
zeros
tomatoes
Nouns ending [vowel] o patio
ratio 		add s patios
ratios
Nouns ending [consonant] y whisky
penny		 change the y to an i and add es whiskies
pennies
Nouns ending [vowel] y whiskey
chimney 		add s whiskeys
chimneys
Nouns ending f or fe dwarf
hoof 		ves and/or s
(There are no rules - you have to know.)		 dwarfs
hooves or hoofs
Exceptions man
louse 		some nouns undergo a vowel or letters change men
lice
More exceptions salmon
sheep 		some nouns do not change at all salmon
sheep

Why Is There Confusion over the Plural of whiskey?

Whiskeys is the only way to make the noun whiskey plural and whiskies is the only way to make the noun whisky plural.

Confusion arises because some people don't realise there is a difference between Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey.
Some mistakenly believe all nouns ending in "y" should form a plural ending in "ies". When a noun ends with [vowel] + y, you only need to add an "s" to form the plural.

Another Interactive Exercise
Here are three randomly selected questions from another exercise on plurals, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.

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See Also

Unusual pluralsPlural forming table Quirks with forming plurals Forming the plurals of abbreviations Forming the plurals of compound nouns