Scotch, like all brown whiskies, must spend several years in cask to smooth out the roughness from the distillation process and to give it color--otherwise it'd be like "white lightning."
Also, the UK banned distilling during WWII and severely rationed barley--the main grain for making Scotch--betweeen 1945 and 1950. I'm pretty sure it had to be "pre-war."
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.