How to Adapt Distillation Methods For Unique Spirits

Barrell maturation gets all of the glory, but post-distillation techniques can have just as big an effect on a spirit’s profile. They can be used to make subtle tweaks that improve consistency between batches or even create brand new spirits altogether.

Distillation is an integral step to producing spirits from raw materials like grains, grapes and agave. Distillation transforms sugary liquid from such sources into potency alcohol called ethanol – but spirits contain much more than this: their flavor profiles stemming from both raw materials as well as fermentation processes.

Distillers use careful selection and separation of volatile fractions to craft spirits that possess depth, complexity, and balance. Distillers discard those fractions containing unfavorable flavor compounds which could compromise safety or taste in final spirit products; those containing desired flavour compounds and optimal alcohol content – typically the hearts – while their heads and tails are either discarded or used in non-consumable products.

Researchers have developed numerous extraction techniques for the analysis of distilled spirits, such as liquid/liquid extraction (LLE), solid phase microextraction (SPME), stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE), and headspace sorptive extraction/spirit-bar sorptive extraction (HSSE/BSSE). Unfortunately, most reported methods are optimized only for one specific distilled spirit type and do not permit detection of compounds found elsewhere within this category of spirits.