The Bulletin. 67 



that the whiskey loses its harsh, unpalatable flavor. Professor Shep- 

 ard, of the Food and Dairy Commission of South Dakota, says that 

 the above theory is entirely wrong, and that the assumption that the 

 quantity or percentage of higher alcohols decrease by aging is not 

 based upon any experimental evidence, and that what evidence we do 

 now have tends to show that the percentage of these alcohols increase 

 by aging instead of decrease. 



The raw, harsh taste of new whiskey is attributed by some good 

 authority to the presence of pyrrol, some alkaline and sulphur com- 

 pounds and phenolic bodies. The pyrrol is supposed to resinify and 

 the others are unstable and are oxidized during the process of aging or 

 maturing. 



It is evident that very marked changes take place in distilled 

 liquors, on the properly aging or maturing of them, but with our 

 present knowledge of the subject, it is safe to say that we do not 

 know, for certain, what those changes are. 



What has been said of whiskey is largely true of brandy, except 

 that the latter is made from fermented fruit juice instead of cereal 

 products. 



SAMPLES EXAMINED. 



Distilled liquors were examined as follows: 



■ Whiskey 22 



Brandy 3 



Gin 2 



Rum 1 



Total number of distilled liquors 28 



Of the 22 samples of whiskey, 7 seem to be straight whiskies 

 properly aged, though some of them had some appearance of having 

 had a small amount of silent spirit and water added to them. Twelve 

 proved to be so-called blends, composed of whiskey, silent spirits, 

 water, coloring matter, and flavoring essences. 



The quantity of real whiskey in these so-called blends ranged from 

 a very small quantity in some of them to probably 50 per cent in 

 others. 



Three samples proved to be entirely artificial products, made up 

 of silent spirits, water, coloring matter, beading oils, and flavoring- 

 essences. 



Only the alcohol and solid matter in solution were determined 

 quantitatively, the former being expressed in terms of both percentage 

 and proof, and the solid matter in percentage. Only qualitative 

 examination for the secondarv constituents was made. The class of 

 a whiskey is revealed largely by the character of its solid matter in 

 solution. 



