Gillman
08-27-2008, 09:03
Often I read on the board a comment such as that a specific bottle has a varsol or varnish taste. Paint thinner, linoleum and other terms are often used.
I agree that a taste in this direction should not be dominant. Yet, IMO, traces of these flavours are essential to a good bourbon or (even more so) rye.
These are congeners, chemical compounds produced by fermentation of grain sugars, themselves derived from long-chain polymer starches, and which come over the still to enter and flavor the whiskey.
Young whiskey, historically, was largely defined by these tastes (which of course can also be spicy, fruity, etc.). The "tails" in whiskey production contain such elements (high boliers amongst the volatiles in the beer) and the extent to which they enter the whiskey is determined by distillation method. This is done mostly by determining final proof level but also by the type of still, e.g., Woodford Reserve's pot still element comes off the still at not far under 160 proof but is certainly a flavorsome new spirit with its share, I infer, of congeners.
Aging in new charred wood has the effect of covering over, partly, these tastes, but also, in concert with the oxidation process, altering some of these congeners, some of which turn into pleasant, fruity-like esters.
In my view, whiskey should have a balance of these pleasant, matured components and some effect from the original whiskey taste. Otherwise, the spirit becomes mostly just a woody taste that is otherwise (or can be) largely neutral.
Admittedly, the taste for the "whiskey" element of a grain spirit, sometimes called its distillery character, is an acquired taste, just as tequila, say, has its acquired taste which derives from agave-derived secondary constituents.
Wheat-recipe bourbons, in my experience, have fewer (at any age) objectionable congeners and therefore are a good entry-level bourbon and of course some people will prefer them always to rye-recipe bourbon. Question of taste.
Gary
I agree that a taste in this direction should not be dominant. Yet, IMO, traces of these flavours are essential to a good bourbon or (even more so) rye.
These are congeners, chemical compounds produced by fermentation of grain sugars, themselves derived from long-chain polymer starches, and which come over the still to enter and flavor the whiskey.
Young whiskey, historically, was largely defined by these tastes (which of course can also be spicy, fruity, etc.). The "tails" in whiskey production contain such elements (high boliers amongst the volatiles in the beer) and the extent to which they enter the whiskey is determined by distillation method. This is done mostly by determining final proof level but also by the type of still, e.g., Woodford Reserve's pot still element comes off the still at not far under 160 proof but is certainly a flavorsome new spirit with its share, I infer, of congeners.
Aging in new charred wood has the effect of covering over, partly, these tastes, but also, in concert with the oxidation process, altering some of these congeners, some of which turn into pleasant, fruity-like esters.
In my view, whiskey should have a balance of these pleasant, matured components and some effect from the original whiskey taste. Otherwise, the spirit becomes mostly just a woody taste that is otherwise (or can be) largely neutral.
Admittedly, the taste for the "whiskey" element of a grain spirit, sometimes called its distillery character, is an acquired taste, just as tequila, say, has its acquired taste which derives from agave-derived secondary constituents.
Wheat-recipe bourbons, in my experience, have fewer (at any age) objectionable congeners and therefore are a good entry-level bourbon and of course some people will prefer them always to rye-recipe bourbon. Question of taste.
Gary