The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-01-23
GIVES AGE TO WHISKY
TRICKS OF THE TRADE THAT DE-
CEIyE THE UNwARY BUYER.
Labels Made to Appear Old and
Spiders that Spin Convenient
Webs on Bottles.



Fifteen-year-old whisky made in fifteen
minutes was one of the things that were
discovered by the United States .Agricul-
tural Department when 1t went to assem-
BILE the exhibit OF American liquors for
the Paris exposition. 1t has long been un-
derstood among patrons of hotels and
restaurants that wine can be made Of any
thing-even grapes. But it remains for
some Of the ingenious and artistically dis
honest Italians OF New York to develop
the trade OF aging bottles and labels TO
make them correspond with the supposed
vintage within. It is a fact. however, that
spiders are specially bred for this purpose.
and the dust and lint OF the long unmo-
Tested wine vault mingled with hoary cob
webs and dim-lettered labels can be fur
nished over night just as easily as the
claret that fills the bottle can be made in
the same length of time py the judicious
mingling of iogwood, water. little alco-
hol and flavor of grape essence.
When one stops to consider now simply
the aging process can be accomplished and
how many hundred per cent it adds to the
selling price of what would otherwise be
a very cheap wine it is not at all sur
prising that the trade is resorted to and
that its devotees flourish. Just how wide
spread the practice has become it would be
hard to say but there are a number of
basement tenement rooms in Little Italy
devoted to 1t, and the manufacturers of
antique bottle trimmings apparently find
a market for all their wares.
The method as has been said is simple
l.. IL cot lar
who haunts the tenement rafterS and de-
lights in taking possession of the windows
in abandoned stores is the chief medium
in the aging process, for he Is an. indus
trious individual and will spin web any
where and almost unlimited quantities or
it If he is given the proper encouragement
in the way of food. The working spiders
are not picked up by chance at all, but
are saved from day to day and week to
week and fed with care and system. Inc
cobweb makers have discovered that, lack
ing a sufficient supply of freshly killed
flies, the spiders will thrive equally well on
a gelatinous mixture Of meat jelly thick
ened with a little sugar. They say this
food makes more web than anything else
they have discovered. and a tiny saucerful
of IL will keep whole working colony of
spiders In spinning mood for couple Of
weeks at q time.
OLD LABELS MADE.
The first step in the operation of aging
a bottle of fresh wine is to secure an APP
propriate antiquated label. This is a mat
ter of less difficulty than might be sup
posed. They are printed on tiny hand
press kept especially for this purpose. and
the aging establishment has collection
of blanks to simulate a dozen different
labels, some of them clever forgeries of
the older well-known brands and some
made up in antique lettering, out of the
inner consciousness of the young Italian
member of the firm who does this artistic
wood-cut work, with a cheap set of
wood engraver's TOOLS adding to the col
lection from time to time. as fancy or the
demands of the trade require.
The labels are printed I'm cheap ink that
will not stand too well anyhow, but the
artists do not trust to this alone for a
basket of 1856 port may have to come on
the table in forty-eight hours after it has
received its cobweb draperies Consequent
" the labels are all dipped in small bowl
of weak tobacco water and dried on a
line over the stove. The mellow suggestion
of age given by this expedient is sur
prisingly deceptive when one considers the
simplicity of the operation. Then the labels
are pasted and the bottle is ready for the
finishing touches This consists in dipping
them in bucket of water and allowing
them to drain without wiping. Before they
quite dry they are busted very lightly
with a mixture of wood ashes and the very
finest dry sawduSt. The result is that the
damp bottle catches and holds a light film
of impalpable dust such as IL would acquire
only by years of cellar life.
PUTTING THE SPIDERS TO WORK.
The final act is performed by the spiders.
The bottles are placed in a narrow basket
and two or three energetic spiders put In
with them. The dusty surface of the bot.
tie offers an excellent inducement for them
to work, and it usually takes only a few
hours for the bottle to get the most ar
tistic suggestion Of cobwebbed age.
The bottles of new wine are sent down
every day or two for their artificial aging,
and sometimes they are busted and cob
webbed by the basketful, and again sep
arately according as the bottles are in
tended for table consumption in restau-
rant or for wholesale trade either to the
unframed drinker or to add to the supply
of some more or less well-known cellar
that is to go under the hammer of the
auctioneer
The fifteen-year-oId whisky referred to
was discovery of Prof. Wiley. &C the
Agricultural Department, when he was
collecting the liquors for the American
exhibit at Paris. 1t developed during that
work that about nine-tenthS of the whisky
sold over the bars of the country had never
seen distillery. but was what is known
to the trade as synthetic whisky, that is
sufficient quantity OF water. coloring and
HdNoiinB matter 10 give IL the appearance
OF having been naturally aged
1t may be remarked that while this pro-
cess of making a high-grade whisky is in
hnitely cheaper than ageirg good liquor for
fifteen years in the wood. il is still too ex-
penSive for use In the cheap groggeries of
a great city. The formulas OF the differ
ent manufacturers for putting I'D eight.
ten, or hfteen-year-old liquor are trade
secrets, but they all depend in a general
way on the same ingredients. The alcohol
is furnished by high-proof spirits gem
orally known as high wines The color is
obtained by the addition OF caramel, rrune
juice or some similar agent while very
small addition of glycerine gives the
bead" that is one of the first signs that
an amateur expert looks for as he tins
his glass up at an angle and watches the
suspicion Of oiliness where the LIQUOR
clings TO the side. There are certain es-
sential oils that give the finishing touches
to the work of counterfeting, but they
and palate of the real expert. And it is
said by those I'm the business that 1T takes
a most expert whisky man 10 tell the good
synthetic whisky from the genuine article
ten years in the wood
In making up the American exhibit for
Paris the Agricultural Department was
careful, about this feature of the dis
play, and while there were large number
OF synthetic WHISTLES In the exhibit rheir
makers were compelled TO plainly classify
them as such, so that there was no mis-
understanding as TO their status I'm the ex-
hibit. and no unfair advantage was taken
OF the exhibitors OF genuine distilled
liquors.
WHAT'S IN A NAMEs