CHAP. XXIV.Of the Flavouring of Spirits.
Wehave observed in the preceding Chapter, that the common Method of rectifying Spirits from alcaline Salts, destroys their Vinosity, and in its stead introduces an urinous or lixivious Taste. But as it is absolutely necessary to restore, or at least to substitute in its room some Degree of Vinosity, several Methods have been proposed, and a Multitude of Experiments performed, in order to discover this greatDesideratum: But none has succeeded equal to the Spirit of Nitre; and accordingly this Spirit, either strong or dulcified, has been used by most Distillers to give an agreeable Vinosity to their Spirits.
Several Difficulties however occur in the Method of using it; the principal of which is, its being apt to quit the Liquor in a short Time, and consequently depriving the Liquor of that Vinosity it was intended to give. In order to remove this Difficulty, and prevent the Vinosity from quitting the Goods, the dulcified Spirit of Nitre, which is much better than the strong Spirit, should be prepared by a previous Digestion continued for some Time with Alcohol; thelonger the Digestion is continued the more intimately will they be blended, and the Compound rendered the milder and softer.
After a proper Digestion, the dulcified Spirit should be mixed with the Brandy, by which Means the Vinosity will be intimately blended with the Goods, and disposed not to fly off for a very considerable Time.
No general Rule can be given for the Quantity of this mineral Acid requisite to be employed, because different Proportions of it are necessary in different Spirits. It should, however, be carefully adverted to, that though a small Quantity of it will undoubtedly give an agreeable Vinosity resembling that naturally found in the fine subtile Spirits drawn from Wines, yet an over large Dose of it will not only cause a disagreeable Flavour, but also render the whole Design abortive, by discovering the Imposition. Those, therefore, who endeavour to cover a foul Taste in Goods by large Doses of dulcified Spirit of Nitre, will find themselves deceived.
But the best, and indeed the only Method of imitatingFrenchBrandies to Perfection, is by an essential Oil of Wine; this being the very thing that gives theFrenchBrandies their Flavour. It must,however, be remembered, that in order to use even this Ingredient to Advantage, a pure, tasteless Spirit must be first procured; for it is ridiculous to expect that this essential Oil should be able to give the agreeable Flavour ofFrenchBrandies, to our fulsome Malt Spirit, already loaded with its own nauseous Oil, or strongly impregnated with a lixivious Taste from the alcaline Salts used in Rectification. How a pure insipid Spirit may be obtained has been already considered in some of the preceding Chapters; it only therefore remains to shew the Method of procuring this essential Oil of Wine, which is this:
Take some Cakes of dry Wine Lees, such as are used by our Hatters, dissolve them in six or eight times their Weight of Water, distil the Liquor with a slow Fire, and separate the Oil by the Separating Glass; reserving for the nicest Uses that only which comes over first, the succeeding Oil being coarser and more resinous.
Having procured this fine Oil of Wine, it may be mixed into a Quintessence with pure Alcohol; by which Means it may be preserved a long time fully possessed of all its Flavour and Virtues; but without such Management, it will soon grow resinous and rancid.
When a fine essential Oil of Wine is thus procured, and also a pure and insipid Spirit,FrenchBrandies may be imitated to Perfection with regard to the Flavour. It must, however, be remembered, and carefully adverted to, that the essential Oil be drawn from the same sort of Lees, as the Brandy to be imitated was procured from; we mean, in order to imitateConiacBrandy, it will be necessary to distil the essential Oil fromConiacLees; and the same for any other kind of Brandy. For as different Brandies have different Flavours; and as these Flavours are owing entirely to the essential Oil of the Grape, it would be preposterous to endeavour to imitate the Flavour ofConiacBrandy, with an essential Oil procured from the Lees ofBourdeauxWine.
When the Flavour of the Brandy is well imitated 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 Colour, the Proof and the Softness must be also regarded, before a Spirit, that perfectly resembles Brandy, can be procured. With regard to the Proof, it may be easily hit, by using a Spirit rectified above Proof; which, after being intimately mixed with the essential Oil of Wine, may be let down to a proper Standard by fair Water. And the Softness may in a great Measure be obtained by distilling and rectifying the Spirit with a gentle Fire; 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 toFrenchBrandies; they being at first, like our Spirits, acrid, foul, and fiery. But with regard to the Colour a particular Method is necessary to imitate it to Perfection: And how this may be done shall be considered in the next Chapter.