DISTILLATION. 
53d 
for their making such vast quantities of bran- 
dy in that country more than in others which 
lie in warmer climates, and are much better 
adapted to the production of grapes. Nor 
is this the only source of their brandies ; for 
all the wine that turns eager, is also condemn- 
ed to the still : and, in short, all that they 
can neither export nor consume at home, 
which amounts to a large quantity; since 
much of the wine laid in for their family pro- 
vision is so poor as not' to keep during the 
time of drawing from the cask. Hence our 
English spirits, with proper management, 
are convertible into brandies that shall hardly 
be distinguished from the foreign in many re- 
spects, provided the operation is neatly per- 
formed. 
The best, and indeed the only method of 
imitating French brandies to perfection, is by 
an essential oil of wine; this being the very 
thing that gives the French brandies their 
flavour. It must, however, be remembered, 
that in order to use even this ingredient to 
advantage, a pure tasteless spirit must first 
be procured; for it is ridiculous to expect 
that this essential oil should be able to give 
the agreeable liavour of French brandies to 
our malt spirit, already loaded with its own 
oil, or strongly impregnated with a lixivious 
taste from the alkaline salts used in rectifica- 
tion. 
To prepare the oil of wine, take some cakes 
of dry wine-lees, such as are used by our hat- 
ters, dissolve them inbor S times their weight 
ot water, distil the liquor with a slow fire, and 
separate the oil with a separating glass, reserv- 
ing for only the nicest uses that which comes 
over first, the succeeding oil being coarser 
and more resinous. Having procured this 
fine oil of wine, it maybe dissolved in alco- 
hol; by which means it maybe preserved a 
long time fully possessed of all its liavour, but 
otherwise it will soon grow rancid. 
W ith a fine essential oil of wine thus pro- 
cured, and a pure and insipid spirit, French 
brandies may he imitated to perfection. The 
essential oil, however, must be drawn from 
the same kind of lees as the brandy to be imi- 
tated was procured from; e. g. m order to 
imitate Coniac brandy, it will be necessary to 
distil the essential oil from Coniac lees ; and 
the same for any other kind of brandy. For 
as different brandies have different flavours, 
and as these flavours are entirely owing to 
trie essential oil of the grape, it would be pre- 
posterous to endeavour to imitate the flavour 
qf Coniac brandy with an essential oil pro- 
cured from the lees of Bourdeaux wine. 
When the flavour of the brandy is well imi- 
tated by a proper dose of the essential oil, 
and the whole reduced into one simple and 
homogeneous fluid, other difficulties are still 
behind: the flavour, though the essential 
part, is not, however, the only one ; the co- 
lour, the proof, and the softness, must also be 
regarded, before a spirit that perfectly re- 
enables brandy can be procured. With re- 
gard to the proof, it may be easily accom- 
plished, by using aspirit rectified above proof; 
which, after being intimately mixed with the 
essential oil of wine, may fie let down to a 
proper standard mc* h fair water; and the 
eoftness may, in a# great measure, be ob- 
tained by distilling and rectifying the spirit 
with a gentle lire ; and what is wanting of this 
criterion in the liquor when first made, will be 
supplied by time ; for it must be remembered, 
that it is time alone that gives this property (o ■ 
French brandies, they being at fir t acrid, 
foul, and fiery. But with regard to the co- 
lour, a particular method is required to imi- 
tate it to perfection, which mav be effected 
by means of treacle or burnt sugar. The 
treacle gives the spirit a fine colour, nearlv 
resembling that 'ot French brandy; but as its 
colour is dilute, a large quantity must be 
used. This is not, however, attended with 
any bad consequences; for notwithstanding 
the spirit is really weakened by this addition, 
yet the bubble-proof, the general criterion 
of spirits, is greatly mended by the tenacity 
imparted to the liquor by the treacle. The 
spirit also acquires from the mixture a sweet- 
ish or luscious taste, and a fulness in the 
mouth ; both which properties render it very 
agreeable to some palates. A much smaller 
quantity of burnt sugar than of treacle will 
be sufficient for colouring the same quantity 
of spirits: the taste is also very different; for, 
instead of the sweetness imparted by the 
treacle, the spirit acquires from the burnt 
sugar an agreeable bitterness, and by that 
means recommends itself to many who are 
offended with a luscious spirit. The burnt 
sugar is prepared by dissolving a proper 
quantity ot sugar in a little water, and scorch- 
ing it over the lire till it acquires a black co- 
lour. Either treacle or burnt sugar will 
nearly imitate the genuine colour of old 
French brandy; but neither of them will suc- 
ceed when put to the test of the vitriolic 
solution. 
r l he spirit distilled from melasses or treacle 
is very pure. It is made from common treacle 
dissolved in water, arid fermented in the 
same manner as the wash for the common 
malt spirit. But if some particular art is not 
used in distilling this spirit, it will not prove 
so vinous as malt spirit, but more flat and 
less pungent and acid, though otherwise 
much cleaner-tasted, as its essential oil is of 
a much less offensive flavour. Therefore, 
it good fresh wine-lees, abounding in tartar, 
are well fermented with melasses, the spirit 
will acquire a much greater vinosity and 
briskness, and approach much nearer to the 
nature of foreign spirits. Where the rac- 
lassessftj^jt is brought to the common proof- 
strength, if it is found not to have a sufficient 
vinosity, it will be very proper to add some 
dulcified spirit of nitre; and if the spirit 
is clean worked, it may, by this addition 
only, he made to pass on ordinary judges for 
french brandy. Great quantities of this 
spirit are used in adulterating foreign bran- 
dy, rum, and arrack. Much of it is also used 
alone in making cherry-brandy and other 
cordials by infusion; in all which, many, and 
perhaps with justice, prefer it to foreign bran- 
dies. Melasses, like all other spirits, is en- 
tirely colourless when first extracted; but dis- 
tillers always give it as nearly as possible the 
colour of foreign spirits. 
It these principles hold good, the imita- 
tion of foreign spirits of all kinds must be 
practicable ; it we only procure some of those 
substances from which the spirit is drawn, 
and distil it with water, the essential oil will 
always give the flavour desired. Thus to 
imitate Jamaica rum, it will only be neces- 
sary to procure Some of the tops, or other 
useless parts, of the sugar-canes, from which 
an essential oil being drawn, and mixed with 
clean melasses spirit, will give it the true 
flavour. The principal difficulty must tie in 
procuring a spirit totally, or nearly, free 
from all flavour of its own. The- spirit drawn 
from the refuse of a sugar-house lias been 
commended as superior to that drawn from 
melasses; though it is very probable, that (o 
procure an absolutely flavourless spirit is im- 
possible. The only method, therefore, of 
imitating foreign spirits is, by choosing such 
materials as will yield a spirit flavoured as 
much like them as possible ; and the mate- 
rials most recommended, and probably the 
best that can be used, arc raisins. 
We shall subjoin the genuine process of 
preparing- Holland gin, agreeably to the prac- 
tice of the best Dutch distillers. Their grist 
is composed of ten quarters of 'malt, ground 
considerably liner than our malt-distillers' 
barley grist, and three quarters of rye-meal ; 
or, more frequently, of ten quarters of rye, 
and three quarters of malt-meal. The ten 
quarters are lirst mashed with the least quan- 
tity of cold water it is possible to blend it up 
with ; when uniformly incorporated, as much 
boiling water is added as forms it into a thin 
batter; it is then put into one, tw r o / or more 
casks, or gyle-tuns, with a much less quantity 
of yeast than is usually employed by our 
distillers. Generally on the third day they 
add the malt or rye meal, previously made 
into a kind of lob, prepared in a similar man- 
ner, except in not being so diluted ; but not 
before it comes to the temperature of the fer- 
menting wash ; at the same time adding full 
as much yeast as when at first setting the 
backs. 
The principal secret in the management of 
the mashing part of the business is, in first 
thoroughly mixing the malt with the cold 
water, and in subsequently adding the due 
proportion ofboiling water, that it may still 
remain sufficiently diluted after the addition of 
the fine meal, under the form of lob, and in well 
rousing all together in the back, that the] 
wash may yet be dilute enough for distilling, 
without endangering its burning to the bot- 
tom of the still. Thus they commodiously re- 
duce the business of brewing and fermenting to 
one operation. By using cold water to uniformly 
wet the malt, all danger of clogging the spend- 
ing of the tap would be necessarily avoided ; • 
but here is no occasion to do any thing more, j 
than sufficiently dilute the wash, consisting] 
of the whole of the grain, thin enough to bo 
fermented and distilled together, b\ which 
means the spirit of the bran and husky part, 
as well as of the flour of the grain, are coin-] 
pletely extracted, yet their wash, compared 
with ours, is about three-eighths thinner. F’orj 
these reasons, they obtain more spirit from I 
their grain than we do, and of a better] 
quality, with not half the trouble taken by j 
our distillers. The gravity of the distillers’ I 
wash at Weesoppe, in the neighbourhood . 
of Amsterdam, in 1774, was but eighteen 
pounds per barrel, very little more than half 
the gravity of ours, Their stills are usually] 
from three to five hundred gallons each;' 
they constantly draw off three cans of phlegm, : 
after the runnings cease to burn on the head 
of the still, when distilling wash; and five 
cans when distilling low wines, a practice ] 
we are unacquainted with; as we usually draw ' 
our fire as soon as the runnings from the 
still burn languidly on the still-head. This, 
and the great quantity of rye they use,] 
cause their spirit to be' so much more acid j 
