Both brandy and whiskey are distilled beverages. What
distinguishes them from each other is the liquor from which they
are distilled. Brandy is a distillate of wine, specifically grape
wine, while whiskey is distilled from beer and other grain
beverages. It is interesting to note that the term used to denote
an alcohol distillate, regardless of the language almost invariably
translates into the phrase water of life. In Latin it is known as
aquae vitae. The French call it eau-de-vie, and in the Gaelic
tounge it is uisge beatha.102
The term eau-de-vie is still used to denote French brandies, and the Gaelic
uisge beatha is the origins of our modern word whiskey.103
The English word brandy appears to be the one exception to this rule, seeming to come from the Dutch
brandewijn,104 which means 'burnt wine,' referring to the
heating of wine for distillation.
Distilled beverages may date as far back as 800 BC in China
with a distillate of Sake.105
In Europe, distillation was known by at least the eleventh or twelfth
century.106 The Norman English
found distillation from grain firmly established in the form of a
drink called uisge beatha when they invaded Ireland in the twelfth
century.107 The Romans found apples
in abundance as they made their conquests through Gaul, and as early as the
nineth century had laws regulating the production of cider. The first written
mention of an eau-de-vie made of 'Syder', however, was not until 1553 when it
was mentioned in the journal of a Norman farmer. Arnold de Vila
Nova, a 13th Century alchemist, wrote of aqua vitae and its restorative
properties108 and also of the medicinal
properties of various flavored alcohols.109
Legal documents dating to 1411 mention the distillation of wine into brandy in the
Armagnac region of France.110
Das Buch zu Destilliern by Hieronymus Braunsweig was printed in
1519. This book, as its title explains, is a book on distillation.
In addition to the text, there are pictures in the book which show
the operations, including one of a still with 4 alembics (retorts).
The Encyclopaedia Brittannica lists in its article on
'Alcoholic Beverages' the following dates and places of origin of
several distilled alcoholic beverages.
Distilled alcoholic beverages are possible due to the
different boiling points of the two primary ingredients in the
original mixture i.e. water and ethyl alcohol. Water boils at a
temperature of 100 C (212 F), while ethyl alcohol will boil at only
78.3 C (173 F).111 This
differential makes it possible to boil out the alcohol from a beverage
such as wine, mead, or beer while leaving the water and other substances
behind. This is done by heating the liquid to a temperature above 78.3 C,
but below 100 C.112 The alcohol,
on boiling, is captured and recondensed into a liquid of consider-
ably higher alcoholic concentrations. The lower the temperature is
kept, while remaining in the proper range, the higher the concen-
tration of alcohol will be in the distillate. A lower temperature,
and therefore a purer distillate may be desired if the purpose is
simply to obtain alcohol to use in fortifying other beverages. In
most cases, unless a modern patent still is used, a second or third
distillation may be necessary to get a really pure and tasteless
distillate. If it is desired, however, to obtain a directly
drinkable beverage, a higher temperature will produce a liqueur
which contains, in addition to ethyl alcohol, a distinct percentage
of water as well as higher alcohols and esters (which are present
in the original beverage), keeping the alcoholic content to within
range of what can be safely drunk. The inclusion of these other
substances will give the beverage flavor and aroma, as well as
smoothness of character. These qualities would be lacking in a
solution of almost pure alcohol.
Another method, known as fractional crystalization,113
is done by inverting the process and freezing the beverage instead of
boiling it. This works for very similar reasons to that of normal
heat distillation, namely, the differential in freezing points of
the two liquids involved. Water freezes at a temperature of 0 C,
while ethyl alcohol does not freeze until reaching -114 C.114
This allows the water to be frozen out of the liquid, leaving behind the
ethyl alcohol, as well as the other alcohols and esters. This
produces a drink of a rather different character from heat
distillation, as it contains everything except water, while heat
distilled beverages leave everything behind except alcohol. Note
also that simply lowering the temperature to 0 C will not produce
an increase in alcoholic strength. The temperature required for
this process is in the range of -15 C and below, but must vary,
much as the di-urnal cycle naturally does.115
This allows crystals of ice to form as the temperature drops. As the temperature rises
slightly the alcohol will drain out of the crystals so that when
the temperature again goes down and more crystals of ice re-form
they are purer crystals of water, containing less alcohol. As this
process repeats itself the solution will gradually work its way
toward the alcohol concentrations listed in the following table
which is adapted from a chart on page 102 of the book, Wines &
Beers of Old New England:
The word distillation is from the Latin, destillare which
means to drop, or to trickle down.116
This refers to the visible dripping of the end product of any liquid distillation
after having been vaporized and then re-condensed. The word alcohol, however,
comes from the Arabic Al Ko'hl which translates into 'the powder'117
and refers to a finely powdered distillate from which the future
distillation of spirits derived its name.
Brandy, as has been said, is the product of grape wine which
has been subsequently distilled to increase its alcoholic content.
The procedure is simply to heat the wine in a still and then save
the captured distillate. Whiskey is made in the same manner as
brandy, except that the original alcoholic beverage that goes into
the still is a beer, made from grain, as opposed to a wine.
There are two main types of stills, but their difference is not
in whether they are for the production of brandy or whiskey. Both
types of stills are used in the production of both types of
beverages. This will be gone into in more detail in the next few
paragraphs, and also in the section on the history of distillation
and distilled beverages.
The most famous brandies are Cognac and Armgnac, so it is with
their production that I shall here concern myself. Both of these
brandies are made from grapes grown in the wine regions of France
which bear their names and are distilled there.
Cognac is distilled to this day in copper pot stills in the
same manner in which it was first made.118
It should, perhaps be mentioned that the area of Cognac was originally noted for its
wines, not for brandy. From the twelfth century through the
fourteenth century the wines of Cognac and Aunis (near Cognac) were
much sought after by the royal households of England. It was not
until later years, when the quality of the Cognac wines began to
diminish, that the brandy distillate of these wines became noted
for their quality.119 The
wine from which it is made comes from the Ugni Blanc grape and it
averages an alcoholic strength of just under 8% and rarely exceeds
10%.120 This wine is then double
distilled early in the year, just after it has fallen bright.121
The distillate comes off the still for the second time at just under
150 proof.
The white wine from the Armagnac region, which is used in
making its brandy has an average alcohol content of about 9%,122
just slightly higher than that used in the making of Cognac.
Armgnac traditionally also used the pot still and was made much the
same as Cognac still is. This has changed, however, since the
invention of the continuous patent still created by Coffey in 1830,
which is now the still used for this brandy. Using the patent
still, Armagnac is distilled to a slightly higher alcoholic
strength in a single distillation than Cognac is with its double
distillation in pot stills.
The following two recipes were found in Delightes for Ladies
in the section titled Secrets of Distillation.
How to make true spirit of wine
Take the finest paper you can get, or else
some Virgin parchment, straine it very right &
stiffe over the glasse bodie, wherein you put
your sack, malmsie or muskadine, oile the
paper or virgin parchment with a pensill
moistned in the oyle of Ben, and distil it in
the Balneo with a gentle fire, and by this
meanes you shall purchase onely the true
spirit of wine. You shall not have above two
or three ounces at the most out of a gallon of
wine, which ascendeth in the forme of a
cloude, without any dewe or veines in the
helme, lute all the joints well in this dis-
tillation. This spirit will vanish in the
ayre, if the glass stand open.
How to make the ordinarie spirit of wine, that is solde for five shillings, & a noble, a pinte
Put sacke, malmsie, or muskadine into a glasse
body, leaving one third or more of your glasse
empty, set it in balneo, or in a pan of ashes,
keeping a soft and gentle fire, draw no longer
then till all or most part will burne away,
which you may prove now and then, by setting a
spoonefull thereof on fire with a paper as it
droppeth from the nose or pipe of the helme,
and if your spirit thus drawn have any phlegme
therin, the rectifie or redistil that spirit
againe in a lesser body, or in a bolt receiver
insted of another body, luting a small head on
the top of the steele thereof, and so you
shall have a verie strong spirit, or else for
more expedition, distill five or sixe gallons
of wine by a Lymbecke; and that spirit, which
ascendeth afterward, redistill in a glasse as
before.
