504 THE DISTILLING INDUSTRY IN IRELAND. 



seem to act physiologically like other spirits, but are, owing to the small 

 amount of bye-products contained, insipid and flavourless, just as the extract 

 of meat is, unless condiments are added to convert the extract into pleasant- 

 flavoured soup, and that the bye-products act as the condiments to the 

 insipid alcohol of silent or patent spirits. This want of flavour, arising from 

 the absence of bye-products, is supplied by blending. Most of the patent 

 spirit made in Ireland is blended, i.e., mixed with pot-still whiskey, and 

 many distilleries consequently use both pot-stills and patent stills. The 

 relative merits of " Self " whiskies and of blended whiskies has given rise to 

 no small amount of discussion, both before the Cominittee mentioned above 

 and elsewhere. Many hold that the pot-still product matured and 

 ripened by age is the only spirit that should be designated " whiskey ; " but 

 •of course an examination of this question, still less an expression of opinion, 

 is quite outside the scope of this article. Much of the patent spirit made 

 in England, especially in London, is rectified, that is, converted into 

 flavoured spirits, such as gin and factitious or British brandy, by the addition 

 ■of juniper berries or other flavouring seeds. Most of the patent spirit pro- 

 duced in Scotland, as in Ireland, is blended with pot-still whiskey so as to 

 lighten and cheapen it. It may be pointed out that the marked difference in 

 flavour between Scotch and Irish whiskey is mainly due to the fact that the 

 Scotch dry their malt with peat, which imparts a decidedly smoky character 

 to the Highland product, whilst anthracite or smokeless coal is generally 

 used in Ireland, with the result that Irish whiskey is free from the marked 

 smoky taste of Scotch whiskey. 



The Bye-products of Distilling. 



The following bye-products from distilleries are worthy of note : — 



1. Spent grains, which, as in the case of brewers' grains, are sold as a 

 feeding stuff. When spent grains are sold direct from the mash-tub, a 

 'distiller generally receives about 6d. per bushel, and when they are dried, 

 •about 4J". 6d. per cwt. 



2. The spent wash, for which 6d. to lod. per lOO gallons may be 

 -obtained, in pot-still distilleries, is largely sold for cattle feeding or for 

 use as a land manure. Its utility as a fertiliser seems to have been somewhat 



■overlooked, and the remarks made by Frankland in 1871 upon this question, 

 are worthy of consideration. He stated (" Experimental Researches," page 

 827) that his analyses show distillery drainage to possess a high manurial 

 value, at least ten times more valuable than sewage, and he asserts that 

 the waste of such rich manure in country places is simply disgraceful. The 



■crops grown upon the distillery farm at Bushmills and on farms near many 



: Scotch distilleries, afford a practical illustration of the high value of the spent 

 wash as a fertiliser. At patent still distilleries very large quantities of 

 spent wash have to be disposed of, and if they are situated in towns it may 

 not be possible to profitably use the wash for manure. In such cases the 

 wash is generally allowed to stand, and the clearer portion drawn off, and 



:run to waste, whilst the thick matters in suspension are precipitated, pressed 

 -in bags, and sold as " slummage " for mixture with cattle food. 



3. The yeast which is used to cause fermentation is generally bought from 

 Brewers, and is at once thrown in with the newly collected worts in the 



