DISTILLATION. 



441 



DISTILLATION, (a.) Every liquid which is 

 susceptible of fermentation will yield alcohol, or 

 spirits of wine, by distillation, after the first or 

 vinous stage of that chemical action has taken 

 place. Now as all liquids which contain starch or 

 sugar of any kind will ferment if the fermenting 

 principle is present, the juices of all vegetables con- 

 taining farina or saccharine matter may be employed 

 to obtain alcohol from. 



The peculiar flavour of the different spirits ob- 

 tained from these vegetable substances, depends on 

 the presence of some foreign matter, as an essential 

 oil, &c., for the alcohol or basis is the same, from 

 whatever source it may be obtained. 



The process of distillation is founded on the 

 principle of different degrees of caloric being re- 

 quisite to convert different liquids into vapour. 

 Thus, if water and alcohol are mixed and exposed 

 to a moderate heat, sufficient to volatilize the 

 spirit, but not to convert the water rapidly into 

 steam, and the vapour arising from the mixture 

 be collected and condensed in a separate vessel, the 

 liquid will be found to be stronger, or to contain 

 more alcohol in proportion to the water, than that 

 from which it was obtained. 



The instrument contrived to effect this separa- 

 tion is called a still. It consists of a large copper 

 or boiler, with a vaulted head, from which rises a 

 funnel-shaped tube, which, being bent downwards, 

 terminates at some distance from the fire of the 

 boiler, in a leaden, copper, or tin tube, made into 

 a spiral form of many turns, and hence called the 

 worm. This tube is enclosed in a tub, or vat, ca- 

 pable of holding water, and the end of the worm 

 terminates in a tap, which passes out of the vessel 

 at the bottom. 



When the liquid to be distilled is put into the 

 boiler and is heated, the vapour produced passes 

 through the head and into the worm, and, by the 

 coldness of the water in the tub, is condensed into 

 a liquid, which may be drawn off at the tap. This 

 liquid product is called singlings, and is again re- 

 turned to a still, and the process repeated, the re- 

 sulting condensed liquid being each time stronger, 

 or containing less water, till the spirit is obtained 

 of the requisite purity, or at what is termed proof. 

 All spirit for drinking remains diluted with a large 

 proportion of water. Instead of re-distilling the pro- 

 ducts, after a certain number of times, other chemi- 

 cal processes are employed for the purpose of sepa- 

 rating the alcohol from the water, and from any 

 bad-flavoured essential oil which may have been 

 distilled over from the original liquid. These pro- 

 cesses are generally termed the rectification of the 

 spirit, and vary for every different liquid em- 

 ployed. 



There is pretty good evidence for supposing that 

 no less a person than Osiris, the great god of 

 Egypt, was the first distiller of whiskey on record ; 

 for the Egyptians had, from time almost imme- 

 morial, a distillation or brewage from barley, called 

 by the Greeks barley-wine, not inferior, they say, in 

 flavour, and superior in strength, to wine. Allu- 

 sion is made to this liquor in several passages of 

 ancient writers. The poor people of Egypt drank 

 it instead of wine, and were wont to intoxicate 

 themselves with it, just as our poorer people do 

 with whiskey. It seems also to have been no 

 stranger to the Hebrews ; for reference is certainly 

 made to it in the Old Testament, under the name 

 of " strong drink," stronger than wine, and resorted 

 to by determined drinkers for the sake of inebria- 



tion. Among the Celtae in Spain and France, it 

 seems to have been common as a substitute for 

 wine ; Polybius speaks of a certain Celtic king of 

 part of Iberia, or Spain, who affected great court 

 pomp, and had in the middle of his hall golden and 

 silver bowls full of this barley-wine, of which his 

 guests or courtiers sipped or quaffed at their plea- 

 sure a custom which, it is said, for many a cen- 

 tury prevailed among his Celtic descendants, the 

 reguli chiefs of our Scottish Highlands. The an- 

 tiquity of this distillation is proved by the Egyptian 

 tradition which ascribed its invention to Osiris. It 

 may not improbably be supposed that the Egyptians 

 communicated the invention to the Babylonians 

 and Hebrews, who transmitted it northwards to 

 the Thracians and Celtae of Spain and Gaul, who, 

 in their migrations north-westwards, carried it 

 along with them into Ireland and the Scottish 

 Highlands. This barley-wine was called by the 

 Greeks fi^um (Qu. brew ?) which, in all likeli- 

 hood, was its Egyptian or Celtic name. Aristotle 

 entertained an extraordinary notion of this potation. 

 Those intoxicated with it, he says, fall on the back 

 part of their heads; whereas those drunk with 

 wine fall on their faces! 



Good Scotch whiskey is made from malt alone ; 

 and the following account of the process of prepar- 

 ing the malt for distillation, we have obtained from 

 a person who has had extensive practical experi- 

 ence in Scottish distilleries. 



The malt, having received every justice from 

 the maltster, is bruised upon cylinders, and the 

 quantity intended to be mashed is put into the 

 mash pan, an eight hour's notice having previously 

 been given to the officer of excise. Water is then 

 added ; the officer being always present. This is 

 the most important part of distillation. If the pro- 

 per quantity of water be not put in, according to 

 the weight of the grain, and that quantity at a pro- 

 per heat, it is impossible to extract the proper 

 quantity of worts at the required gravity. Soft or 

 moss water is best for mashing with, or extracting 

 the wort from the malt. The water ought to be 

 kept in a boiling state three or four hours before it 

 is applied to the grain. The weight of the grain 

 being ascertained (we shall take a medium weight, 

 say nineteen stones per boll or six bushels, and 

 the gravity of the worts to be taken from the mash 

 tun 60, or to contain sixty pounds of saccharine 

 matter,) the water is then poured upon the malt 

 at a heat of from 145 to 175 according to the 

 season of the year. In summer, 145 will do, but 

 in winter it may be proper to raise the water to the 

 heat of from 174 to 180. Now, if grain be of the 

 above weight, and the time of mashing be in the 

 month of November or March, which are the best 

 seasons of the year for mashing, bring your water 

 to the heat of 148; then for every boll or six 

 bushels, give 135 to 145 gallons of water at the 

 above heat ; then instantly commence stirring your 

 mash tun with oars, and continue to do so for about 

 fifty minutes, after which let the tun settle for 

 about forty-five minutes ; then turn the discharge 

 cock of the tun, and the worts will drain into the 

 under-back. The worts on being tried should now 

 prove about sixty-two or sixty-three pounds weight 

 saccharometer. These being the first worts, are 

 either pumped up to the coolers, or left in the 

 under-back if it is large enough to contain the 

 second mash also. Should the first worts be 

 pumped up into the coolers, instead of remaining in 

 the under-back, the officer upon the first visit must 



