Distillation

1. Distillation Philip Meaden • Part 1: Malting, Mashing and Fermentation • Part 2: Distillation of Malt Spirit • Part 3: Distillation of Grain Spirit • Part 4: Distilled Beverages other than Scotch Whisky • Part 5: Flavour and Maturation • Part 6: Cooperage • Part 7: Blending and Packaging

2. Distilled Beverages Other Than Scotch Whisky • Congeneric spirits • whisky/whiskey, brandy (including fruit brandies), dark rum • Non-congeneric (neutral or light) spirits • vodka, gin, light rum • Liqueurs and speciality products (LSPs) • non-generic products (most recently, cream liqueurs, pre-mixed cocktails and alcopops)

3. Whiskies

4. Wash still Strong low wines Weak low wines Weakfeints Low wines still Strong feints Spirit still Heads Spirit (89-92% abv) Tails (feints) Irish Whiskey: Triple Distillation

5. Canadian Whisky • Mashing may be carried out using malt and/or microbial enzymes (e.g. thermostable -amylase from Bacillus licheniformis) • Enzymes may also be added at the fermentation stage (e.g., fungal glucoamylase), especially if malt was not used during mashing • Lactic acid bacteria are used together with the yeast in fermentation (lactic acid bacteria may provide growth factors for the yeast) • Continuous distillation (including extractive distillation) is used in rye spirit production

6. Canadian Whisky: Continuous Distillation System

7. American Whiskies

8. Bourbon Whiskey Distillation System

9. American Whiskies (continued)

10. Other Congeneric Spirits

11. Cognac • Produced in France in a region north-east of the Gironde and north of the Dordogne rivers • Specific grape varieties are grown for Cognac production • Ugni blanc (95% of total) – productive, gives a spirit with floral aroma • Colombard – productive, spirit has heavy, sharp aroma • Folle Blanche – gives a rich, very aromatic spirit, but vines are prone to fungal disease • certain other varieties permitted to a maximum of 10%

13. Cognac (continued) • Fermentation takes place using naturally-occurring yeasts (present on the grapes) • Double distillation process, using direct firing • first distillation produces a brouillis (distillate) of 27 to 30% abv • second distillation or bonne chauffe: the heads (1 to 2% of total) are discarded, the tails are recycled • Blending is carried out as maturation proceeds to provide consistency

14. Rum Uses sugar cane juice or molasses as a feedstock: • Cane juice (12-16% sugar) is easy to use (requires no processing), gives a cleaner distillation than molasses but very prone to microbial contamination and only available during the cane harvest • Molasses stores reasonably well, contains a more concentrated sugar solution (up to 80%), and provides greater character to the distilled product; requires clarification and dilution prior to fermentation

15. Distillation: Dark and Light Rum • Dark rum production uses batch distillation, either as a double or triple process; large scale production includes a combined batch and column still • Light rum production uses continuous distillation with a Barbet still and additional columns for production of a highly rectified spirit • Maturation is variable • little or none for light rums (may also be treated with activated charcoal) • five years or more for heavy rums

16. Batch Distillation in the Production of Dark Rum

17. Batch and Column Still for Production of Dark Rum

18. The Barbet Still • Widely used in the production of neutral and light spirits in Europe and South America • Uses a heads removal section above the stripping column to remove some of the more volatile components before they reach the rectifying column • The heads removal section prevents CO2 build-up in the rectifier and provides better control of some congener levels in the rectifying column • Disadvantage of the Barbet system is that alcohol losses are higher (compared to Coffey still)

19. The Barbet Still

20. Continuous Distillation for Production of Light Rum

21. Vodka • Uses neutral spirit; careful handling and storage is necessary to avoid taints; activated charcoal is used to remove trace amounts of congeners • International brands are essentially flavourless; others may be lightly flavoured with fruits or other botanicals (bison grass, pepper, honey) • Fermentation feedstock is usually a cereal; amylolytic enzymes are supplied by malted barley or exogenously • Non-cereal fermentation feedstocks (potatoes, sugar beet, sugar cane juice, molasses, whey) may be permitted in some countries

22. Three Column System for Neutral Spirit Production

23. Gin • Uses neutral spirit from continuous distillation • Flavoured with botanicals, chiefly juniper berries (Juniperis communis) but also angelica root, coriander seeds, lemon peel, etc. • “Distilled” gin produced by batch distillation (45-60% abv) with botanicals; heads and tails fractions are recycled through a rectifying column before returning to the gin still • “Compound” gin uses essences or flavourings that are added directly to the neutral spirit

24. Liqueur and Specialty Products • Many brands, versatile, extremely varied, with broad appeal • Sales tend to be seasonal (mainly November-December) • Dominated by a handful of global brands (e.g., Bailey’s Original Irish Cream, Malibu, Kahlúa, Southern Comfort) • Life cycle can be very short (perhaps only a few years) • New brands require a “unique selling proposition” for success • Innovative design and packaging are important

25. Production of Liqueurs • In Europe and the USA, liqueurs are now defined by law • Spirit base (either neutral or congeneric) must be the product of fermentation • Usually contain 20-60% (v/v) ethanol (minimum of 15% in Europe) • In Europe, must contain a minimum sugar content of 10%, (w/v); sucrose is generally used because of greater viscosity • Additives must be of “agricultural origin”, flavourings must be “natural”