£0g ON THE SHAPE OF STILLS. 



say too, and this cannot be disputed, that the brandy ob- 

 tained in this method contains nothing or next to nothing 

 of that aroma, which is so grateful to the smell, and com- 

 municates the agreeable flavour, that, distinguishes well 

 made brandy. 

 Experiments It is this difference in the quality of the products, that 

 proving j ias en g a g e d the attention of distillers. I thought at first, 



that they might have been deceived by their prejudices, and 

 boldly disputed their opinion : but finding, that shallow 

 alembics fell more and more into disrepute, I resolved to 

 examine for myself, whether the objections made to them 

 were well founded. What I thought it particularly neces- 

 sary to ascertain was, whether the difference in flavour be- 

 tween brandies distilled in alembics of the different forms 

 were sufficiently perceptible, to authorize the preference 

 given to one over the other. Accordingly I subjected to 

 distillation a quantity of wine, part in a shallow alembic, 

 part in one of the common construction. 

 the inferiority When I had finished the distillation, I examined both 

 of the shallow sor t s f brandy, and gave them to different persons to taste, 

 all of whom, as well as myself, uniformly gave the prefer- 

 ence to that produced from the deep still. Thus I was con- 

 vinced, that the objections of the distillers were not the 

 result of unfounded prejudice; and that the difference ob- 

 served in the products of two analogous operations must 

 depend on the circumstances of the evaporation; which 

 Difference of were not the same in the two stills, since 1 satisfied myself, 

 ^ e f fa P oralin ? that, in the. common still, the evaporation of the spirit does 

 not begin to be very copious, till the heat is 70° or 75° of 

 Reaumur [190° or 200° F.], while on the contrary in the 

 shallow still it is very abundant from 45° to 55° [133° to 

 156° F.}. 

 This the cause This difference in the intensity of the heat produced, at 

 *aalU renc ^ m tfye moment when the alcohol separates from the liquor 

 that contains it, appeared to me worthy of remark, and 

 tending to explain why the products must differ. In fact, 

 is it not well known in chemistry, that wine distilled at 

 the heat, of a vapour bath yields a spirit much inferior in 

 quality to thatj which is produced by distillation on a naked 

 fire? 



Experience 



