mbanu Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Anyone have any idea what the various bourbon distillers do with the heads and tails? Sell the heads to chemical processing companies and use the tails in their lower end bottlings? Throw them all out? Something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasking Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 As I understand it, they generally get recycled, included with subsequent runs. Initially I assumed that they would produce a really noxious distillate, but a book on distilling I read (I don't remember which one right now) said that they make MORE flavorful whiskey. In fact, at some point there are enough saved up to do a still run of just old foreshots and feints, and those are supposed to be superlative runs.I don't know any of this myself; just passing on something I read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miller542 Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 the heads and tails? Noob question: What are heads and tails? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 ...What are heads and tails? 'Heads' is simply the earliest product of distillation, which contains volatile compounds unsuitable for whiskey. 'Tails' is the last bit of distillate off the still, and generally is low-alcohol.As noted above, they are sometimes also referred to as 'foreshots and feints'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 The heads are recycled/redistilled, the tails are discarded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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