BRANDY. 149 



The precise scientific value of the flavour, however genuine the 

 brandy may be, is an unknown quantity. Medical evidence is fre- 

 quently adduced in supporting- the theory that the entire therapeutic 

 value depends on the impurities. Against this we have also the 

 medical opinion tliat it is the alcohol and the alcohol alone that is 

 of value, and some go so far as to say that pure white spirit is just 

 as efficacious and of equal value to the finest spirit ever produced from 

 the grape. 



In fairness to those who incline to the latter opinion it is only 

 right to say that the conclusion arrived at by the Departmental Com- 

 mittee on Whisky went to show that pure alcohol — that is to say, 

 silent spirit — is, if anything, a more healthful beverage than the 

 ordinary drinking spirits — barring the necessary flavour. 



Curiously enough the only thing the public seem concerned about 

 is the mode of origin of the spirit, and not so much the flavour, so long 

 as the traditional flavour of rum, schnapps, whisky, and brandy is 

 apparent. 



Brandy, therefore, may be classed as to its origin as follows: — 



1. It may be wholly derived from wine. 



2. It may be entirely spithetic. 



3. Or chiefly composed of grain or beet spirit, with ten, twenty, 



or more per cent, of real old brandy, the amount of the 

 latter determining the price to be paid, the mark of value 

 indicated by one star, two, three, or five stars, for which 

 the consumer pays a few shillings, or a pound sterling, or 

 more, per bottle. 

 The consumer, therefore, pays more for the label in stars than 

 for the alcoholic contents. In a word, he pays for the flavour. Now, 

 the analyst cannot separate and estimate so intangible a phenomenon 

 as a fleeting flavour and enter it among his results even in milli- 

 grammes. 



Since ethylic alcohol is the same the world over, he can give the 

 quantity by weight and volume pretty correctly, and must rely on 

 the non-alcoholic contents or the alcohol derivatives to enable him to 

 pronounce as to its genuineness or otherwise. He must look to the 

 secondaiy products as the index of purity, and it is just here that his 

 path is fraught with dangei-ous pitfalls. First, the absolutely genuine 

 brandy is marked by a high co-efficient of impurity. Secondly, he is 

 pitted against the synthetic brandy chemist, who is on the alert to 

 satisfy the analyst with a clever admixture of alcohol and impurities 

 known as " oil of Cognac.'' With a sufficiency of burnt sugar and 

 artificial esters the trick is done, and a brandy may be manufactured 

 to suit any standard that any authority or Act of Parliament may 

 devise. So that when the " trade" of any State welcome and even ask 

 for a brandy standard, we shall be no further forward, for it will 

 certainly happen that the brandy makers will export a brandy that 

 will meet all the requirements of a standard. The only remedy I see 

 is to track the brandy from its place of origin. Obviously, France, 

 Spain, Portugal, and Algiers are, for economic and geographical 

 reasons, beyond ordinary facilities. Fortunately, Australia is a wine- 

 growing country, and can produce genuine brandy beyond question 

 or suspicion, and Ansti-alian brandy should, if properly made, rival the 

 best output from Cognac. 



South Australia and New South Wales are already producing 

 absolutely genuine brandy, and as prejudice disappears there will be 



