Spirits are produced by concentrating the alcohol in a ferment liquid through distillation whereby liqueur is a spirit that has been sweetened and flavoured. The concentration of the alcohol is normally between 37% and 43% for spirits versus 12% for table wines. Liqueurs are often used in cocktails as a base, although, they used to be used as a form of medicine in their origination.

Typically, the bases for spirits are fruit, grain or vegetable, or any sugar-based liquid that can be fermented. In grain based spirits, the initial fermentation turns the starch to sugar to be fermented. Certain spirits can only be made with a certain base and others can be made with different bases. For example, Vodka can be made with a grain, potato or sugar cane base whereby Brandy can only be made with grapes.

Cognac, Armagnac, Brandy, Grappa, Piscos and Trebbiano are examples of grape based spirits from different regions, with different types of grapes as their base. Calvados is an apple based spirit known as applejack in North America.

Whisky and Scotch are grain based spirits, where Scotch whiskey is a whiskey that contains a blend of more than one distillation, typically malt whisky and grain whisky. A single malt scotch whisky is the original whiskey that was produced from barley and distilled.

Rum is the most popular distilled spirit and typically made wherever sugar cane is grown, which is the base or sometimes molasses may be used. Depending on the still method used, pot or patent determines whether it is white rum or darker.

Gin is typically a compounded spirit from Juniper, coriander, or citrus fruits and Schnapps is distilled from grain or potatoes and flavoured with caraway or aniseed.

Liqueurs generally fall into four categories, which are dairy liqueurs, bean or kernel liqueurs, herb liqueurs and fruit liqueurs. Liqueurs are more commonly known as names like Bailey’s Irish Cream, Crème de Menthe, Kahlua, Amaretto, Sloe Gin, Galliano, Southern Comfort or Grand Marnier, for example. These are popular liqueurs that are often used in cocktails, although they can also be drank by themselves.

The primary difference, when it comes to spirits and liqueurs is that they are the same, except for the added flavouring and sweetness that a liqueur is characterized by. When it comes to drinking, they carry higher alcohol content than wine and beer, because of the concentrated nature of the distillation or compounding processes. Typically, they are mixed with additional juices or flavouring to compliment their base.

Both spirits and liqueurs can be added to some dishes when cooking and Jack Daniels grill items are popular on many American menus, using a whisky based marinade or barbeque sauce. Another popular dish is Tequila lime chicken, which has international flair and popularity on Latino menus. The list is endless, but one thing for certain is that the popularity of spirits and liqueurs is international and personal tastes have a wide variety of products to choose from.

It is said that the acquisition of knowledge on any subject that you are interested in only increases your appreciation for it.  This can easily be said about the finest of scotches as well.

There seems to be a trend building with aficionados flocking the rolling country sides in Scotland just to sneak a sample of the gold they seek. As one must experience to appreciate, it appears that this is a task for the strong willed in this subject.

One could imagine many trips booked from abroad flocking Scotland’s coastlines in search of the malt that has only been heard of and not been tasted. This is not merely just a trend, to Scotch enthusiast, it is rather a mission. To be experienced in the fine subtleties of these malts and blended scotch whiskies is to many a dream. Some could not even imagine the soft roll that many of these great spirits have to offer to the tongue.

Spending time with true connoisseurs of scotch and single malts gives you valuable insight as to what to look for in a full bodied fine scotch. They have made it a life ambition to seek out and test what the worlds finest has to offer. Many of these great spirits of course are not easily obtainable some run very steep in price and are on the wish list of some of the great testers of fine scotch everywhere. Generally they have first dibs, as the company will wait in anticipation for a vote of confidence and endorsement.

So too are the batches that are still maturing that so many people are waiting for with absolute excitement. Given the time it takes for some of these blends to reach an acceptable maturity where it will be appreciated it is only natural that many testers keep close tabs on the process and look for hints of up and coming blends that can be comparable.

As many professional testers will state, the best of the best still and most likely will always come from Scotland as they have mastered this art with a precision and dedication second to none. Testers will admit when they have stumbled on a gem from another country but honestly have not found that diamond in the rough all that many times.

So instead they give honest and professional opinions to the public, the benders, and distillers themselves, taking into account how harsh possible poor media coverage can be.

How are Spirits made?

Spirits can be made from any organic substance that can be fermented to create alcohol. Most alcoholic beverages are made by fermenting fruit or grain-based solutions. A still extracts alcohol from a fermented liquid by boiling it and then condensing the alcohol vapors, which evaporate from the boiling liquid at a lower temperature than water. For example, an 8% alcohol by volume (ABV) wine or beer distills into a 20% ABV distillate when it is run through a typical simple pot still. The alcohol content can be further increased by additional redistillations that further concentrate the alcohol and reduce the total volume of liquid.

The first and most basic type of still is the pot still, which is an enclosed vessel (the kettle or “pot”) that narrows into a tube at the top to collect alcohol vapor that evaporates when the fermented contents are boiled. The tube bends downward off the top of the pot and runs through a bath of cold water. This causes the alcohol vapor to condense back into liquid and drain into a container at the end of the tube. Most pot stills are made from copper. They are considered “inefficient” in that they carry over a percentage of water and chemical compound vapors along with the alcohol vapor. This “inefficiency” can be considered an advantage when producing spirits such as brandy and whiskey that have distinctive flavors.

The column or continuous still has two enclosed copper or stainless steel columns. The fermented liquid is slowly fed down into the top of the first column while steam is sent up from the bottom. The rising steam strips the alcohol from the descending liquid and carries it over into the second column where it is recirculated and concentrated to the desired percentage of alcohol. Column stills are more “efficient” than pot stills in that they extract a higher concentration of alcohol. They are favored for neutral-flavored spirits such as vodka and white rum and also for industrial alcohol.

What Are Spirits?
Alcohol, in its basic meaning, is a hydroxyl compound such as ethanol or methanol. Fermentation is the process by which an organic substance (usually a sugar) is converted by a single-celled microorganism such as yeast into alcohol. A spirit is distilled alcohol. Spirits distillation is the process of heating a fermented liquid, evaporating off the alcohol as vapor, and thencondensing it back into liquid form.

How Are Spirits Measured?
Spirits are measured by alcohol content. Different scales are used in different countries. Most countries use alcohol by volume (ABV), also known as the Gay-Lussac system, which expresses alcohol content as a percentage of the total liquid volume of the beverage. A 40% ABV spirit contains 40% alcohol. In the United States, the proof scale of measurement is used, with the proof of a spirit being double the ABV. Thus a 40% ABV spirit is 80 proof. A degree symbol is customarily used when expressing proof.

How Are Spirits Classified?
Generally speaking, spirits are classified by the fermented material that they are distilled from. Whiskies, Vodka, Gin and most types of Schnapps are made by distilling a kind of beer made from grain. Brandy is made from fermented grape juice, and Fruit Brandy is made from other fruits. Rum and Cane Spirits derive from fermented sugar cane juice or molasses. Tequila and Mezcal come from the fermented pulp of the agave plant. Fortified wines are hybrid beverages in that they are a blend of fermented wine and distilled spirits (usually Brandy).