On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1436

Continuous distillation in a column still. The
platesineachcolumnarehottestatthesteam
inputandcoolestattheotherend.Substances
withlowboilingpoints,includingalcohol,are
concentratedinthevaporthatleavesthefirst
column and rises in the second, and the
alcohol-rich fraction is collected at a
particularpositioninthesecondcolumn.
MaturationandAgingFreshfromthestill,
distilledliquorsareascolorlessaswater,or
“white.”They’realsoroughandharsh,soall
arematuredforweeksormonthstoallowthe
variouscomponentstoreactwitheachother,
formnewcombinations,andbecomeless
irritating.Fromthispoint,thespiritsare
handleddifferentlyaccordingtothekindof
productthey’remeanttobecome.“White”
spirits,includingvodkaandeauxdeviemade
fromfruits,arenotaged;theymaybe
flavored,thenadjustedtotheproperalcohol
contentbytheadditionofwater,andbottled.
“Brown”spirits,includingbrandiesand


whiskies,aresocalledbecausethey’reagedin
woodbarrels,fromwhichtheyderivea
characteristictawnycolorandcomplexityof
flavor.(Somebrownspiritsmaybecolored
withcaramelinstead.)Spiritsmaybebarrelagedforanythingfromafewmonthsto
decades,duringwhichtheirflavorchanges
considerably.

Theextraction,absorption,andoxidation
processesthattakeplaceduringbarrelaging
resultinthedevelopmentofamellow,rich
flavor(p.720).Andthebarrelallowsboth
waterandalcoholtoevaporatefromthe
spirits,thusconcentratingtheremaining
substances.Abarrelmayloseseveralpercent
ofitsvolumeperyear;thatportioniscalled
“theangels’share,”anditmayapproachhalf
thebarrelvolumeafter15years.
Final Adjustments When spirits are judged
ready for bottling, they’re usually blended to
obtain a consistent flavor, and diluted with