The Savannah morning news., 1900-09-06
NEW WAY TO MAKE OLD WHISKY.
"a Can he Made Two Years old In
Fo"r Hours by an English Pro-

cess
From the London Expires
A. Liverpool the other day a special
commissioner appointed by the Express.
Dr. T. W. Drinkwater. lecturer on chem
istry In the Edinburgh Medical school
witnessed tho details % a process invent
Ell by Mr.. a. g. scott FOR the purpose %
maturing whisky. or. rather. for cleansing
u from certain elements especially fusel
oiD which tend 20 render new whisky cs-
peciallN Objectionable as a beverage.
Before now % has been proposed that
an whisky should h. kept In bond Tor "a
certain period OF years before being con
sumcd. This opinion Is a wise one. but
there are OBVIOUS difficulties n che way Of
IT. adoption practically The locking up
Of whisky means the lOckiug up Of money.
and the poorer consumers cannot afford 10
pay the price that their richer brethren
are charged Cor whisky that Is safe to
drink. The locking up 81 whisky. u H.
further proved means loss In strength and
In quantity. this loss depe nding on the
temperature and moisture Of the air In the
bonded cellar
AFR. a. c. Scott OF Liverpool Is the man
aging director 81 the British Spirit Pro-
cess Company. Limited and he IL the In
ventor OF the method Or Drinkwater has
Investigated and examined
The CHIEF impurity IN all whiskics r.
what people term "fusel oil" This is not
a simple substance. bat a complex mix.
turc OF what are termed higher alcohols."
The best known member of this series IL
known az "amylic alcohol" Now. several
investigators notably pr Bell. late q
Somerset House and MIR A n. Allen y.
C.. s.. Of Sheffield, have taken nmyiic alco-
hol without experiencing any bad effects.
Mr. Allen puts the matter fairly when he
says that % Is not the amylic alcohol it.
self which injuries the whisky drinker. bat
the chemically bad company which Il
keeps
All spirits contain this fusel OIL. but
when they are aged" In caeks. come H.
absorbed by the wood and 50 much is OK
idized or changed into compounds which
give the bouquet and character 90 whisky
A period OF five years may elapse before
this process Of maturing is completed In
tho case Of many whiskies-
Mr r. c. Scott proposes 10 eject in
few Ahours- four holus-what nature &C
comprises iu the whisky cask. may say
that Dr Drinkwaier confirms the opinion
that In four hours Mr.. Scotts process
converts new whisky into quality equal
90 that OF a 2-year-old sample taken from
a cask
His process consists IN pumping air
through n nlier The air il cooled by
freezing machine 50 thai an is moisture
Is deposited Ia the form OF actual snow.
The spirit a. also cooled below the freez-
ing point Of water by the same machine.
The dry. cold air and cold spirits are then
mixed in the form Of a spray under
pressure Of about twenty pounds. This
process goes on continuously for four
hours The air once used and charged
with a number OF the impurities Of the
whisky Is allowed 20 pass away.
This process differs from all others OF
kindred nature. nrst In having the spirit
and air kept below freezing point, and n
diaposing Of the air. 80 that the impuri-
ties have no chance Of again entering me
whisky. The cold. dry air does not remove
any of the spirit Moist air woud re
move a certain proportion or quantity Of
the alcohol
me practice has been brought before
the Society 81 Chemical Industry, ana mas
received the approval Of some OF the best
apaIvsis In the kingdom. II can DO al
tered TO suit the character Of each kind
Of spirit II h found that different Wits
kies demand different treatment. but GIL
the processes ore conducted by means Of
the same apparatus.
DR. Drlnkwater saw fftv-nine gallons
Of patent stlll whisky a, twenty-five over
proof treated with the apparatus for four
hours His analysis was performed on
samples taken ~ MIN htt'f* ahH "A'f
treatment bv Mr. SCOTS process.
BEFORE treatmon, the whisky gave the
following results: strength. 3s over
proof: others IN grains per proof gallon
atG: higher alcohols. ditto. $50 grains.
After treatment: Strength. 3W over
proof: ether. 23s2 grains per proof gallon
higher alcohols. ao@ grains.
Practically. therefore We Sc that IN
four hours the higher alcohols which We
noted to constitute the objectionable ele-
menis In new whisky were diminished hy
twenty-eight grains per proof gallon.
one highly important point 90 b. noted
also H. that the others which give the
boua,i.t 10 the whisky are not practical
iv diminished. the character Of the whls-
Ky. as whisky. being perfectly retained.
The Scott process could remove the whole
81 these higher alcohols. but the spirit,
in place Of being whisky. would simply
30 rectifed spirit without flavor
Mr.. Scott took six-yenr-old whisky
ana subjected 81 to his process. The re-
suit WAS that the whisky was chemically
unchanged. on a poi-stiii whisky tho ef-
feet would he more marked than on
patent-stin whisky. which Or. Drinkwa
ter saw treated because the former is far
more impure spirit
II Il evident. therefore that Mr. Scott
has invented process which one con-
not but regard as OF extreme importance
from the scientific and social standpoint.
n whisky can h. 20 easily robbed Of tho
very impurities which madden those who
consume u. We may reasonable hope that
even n the consumption OF alcohol may
not be diminished the people will be sup
piled with n safer sumulant As the
Highlander remarked. There is nothing
40 bad IN the world as bad WHISKY"