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WSET > Spirits > Flashcards

Spirits Flashcards

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1
Q

Pot Stills

A
  • copper pot-shaped vessel
  • batch process
  • successive distillations required to get high-strength spirit
  • components (in order of boiling, first to last)
    • heads (highly volatile)
    • heart (spirit)
    • tails (least volatile)
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2
Q

Pot Stills Final Spirit

A
  • characterful

- low strength

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3
Q

Column Stills

A
  • tall, vertically structures column
  • continuous process
  • internally divided into plates
  • mini-distillations on each plate increases alcohol at each level
  • high-strength, almost pure ethanol
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4
Q

Column Still Final Spirit

A
  • smooth, light character

- high-strength

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5
Q

Column Still Post Distillation

A 
Maturation
- unaged (stainless steel tanks)
- aged (oak vessels)
Oak
- softens alcohol
- adds tannins, colour and flavour
Sweetened
- eg sugar or oak
Colour
- eg caramel or oak, or removed by charcoal filtration
Water
- reduced to bottling strength 40% abv with de-mineralized water
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6
Q

Brandy

A

Distilled wine

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7
Q

Types of Brandy

A

Cognac

Armagnac

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8
Q

Cognac

A
  • oak-aged grape brandy
  • region: delimited Cognac region, Bordeaux
  • must be double-distilled in copper pot still
  • fruity (grapes), floral (perfume), light to medium-bodied, smooth alcohol
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9
Q

Armagnac

A
  • region: delimited area south of Bordeaux
  • Armagnac column still (low strength, characterful spirit)
  • dried fruit (prune, raisin, fig), medium to full-bodied
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10
Q

Brandy Maturation

A

Oak Maturation

Smoother, wood (vanilla, toast, nuts, sweet spice, fruitcake, dried fruit)

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11
Q

Brandy Labelling Terms

A
  • VS
  • VSOP
  • XO (Napoléon)
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12
Q

Whiskey

A

Characterful oak-ages spirit.

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13
Q

Whiskey Process

A

Grains (barley, rye, corn)

Starch converted into fermentable sugar

Fermentation

Distillation

Maturation

Whiskey

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14
Q

Types of Whiskey

A 
Scotch whiskey
Malt Whiskey
Single Malt Whiskey
Grain Whiskey
Blended scotch whiskey
Irish whiskey
North American whiskey
(Bourbon, Tennessee whiskey)
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15
Q

Scotch Whiskey

A

Must be distilled and aged in Scotland for a minimum of three years

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16
Q

The Distillation Process

A

Alcoholic Liquid

Heated (boiling temp for alcohol = 78.3 C)

Liquid boils, alcohol evaporates

Alcoholic vapor travels up the still to condenser

Cooled

Vapor condenses

New Make Spirit

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17
Q

Malt Whiskey

A

Made using malted barley.

Distillation must take place in a copper pot still.

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18
Q

Single Malt Scotch

A
  • Malted Barley
  • Copper pot still
  • peat - can be a defining flavour
  • other flavour a may include: floral, honey, fruit, dried fruit, nutty, medicinal, spicy, cereal, woody
  • comes from just one distillery
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19
Q

Grain Whiskey

A
  • second kind of scotch
  • made from a mixture of grains including corn, wheat and malted barley
  • column still
  • smooth and light in flavour
20
Q

Blended Scotch Whiskey

A
  • grain and malt whiskey blended

- best blended whiskeys have a smooth spirit component and a well-balanced combination of flavours.

21
Q

Irish Whiskey

A
  • generally made from a mixture of malted and unmalted barley
  • usually unpeated
  • pot, column or combination of stills
  • tends to be smoother and lighter in flavour than scotch whiskey, soft and mellow flavours of fruit, honey, flowers and oak
22
Q

Bourbon

A

North American Whiskey

  • mixture of grains but must contain 51% corn
  • relatively low strength spirit
  • aged in heavily charred new American oak barrels
  • majority is produced in Kentuckey
23
Q

Tennessee Whiskey

A
  • new make spirit is filtered through sugar maple charcoal before put into barrel
  • mellows whiskey, resulting in smoother spirit.
24
Q

Rum Process

A

Sugar Cane product (molasses must be diluted prior to fermentation)

Fermentation

Distillation (pot or column)

Maturation (optional)

Rum

25
Q

Rum Styles

A

White Rum
Golden and Spiced Rum
Dark Rum

26
Q

Golden and Spiced Rum

A
  • usually dry or off-dry

- spiced rums are typically golden runs that have had spice flavouring added

27
Q

Dark Rum

A
  • generally full-bodied, sweet in style
  • may have caramel added for their colour - may be harsh and spirity
  • best are aged for several years and can be very smooth, intense and complex
28
Q

White Rum

A
  • most popular style
  • some distilled to lower strength, very flavoursome with intense tropical fruit flavours
  • majority distilled to high strength, dry and neutral in character
  • may be aged in oak and colour removed with charcoal filtration
29
Q

Tequila Process

A

Agave harvested (must be produced from 51% blue agave)

Hard core is Cooked (sugars extracted)

Fermentation

Distillation (typically double pot distilled)

Maturation (optional)

Tequila

30
Q

Tequila Styles

A

Blanco/Silver
Joven/ Oro/ Gold
Reposado (rested)
Añejo (aged)

31
Q

Blanco/ Silver Tequila

A
  • purist, most authentic expression

- dry with intense vegetal and spicy flavours

32
Q

Joven/ Oro/ Golf

A
  • Unaged

- caramel added

33
Q

Reposado

A
  • Rested

- aged in oak for short time

34
Q

Añejo

A
  • Aged for much longer period
35
Q

Vodka Process

A

Any raw material (grains, potato, grapes)

Distilled to a high strength (95-96%abv)

Charcoal filtration (optional)

Reduced to bottling strength

Vodka

36
Q

Vodka

A
  • light, neutral character
  • some more characterful
  • popular, versatile (cocktails and mixers)
  • some flavoured
37
Q

Flavoured Spirits

A

High-strength neutral based spirit.

Includes flavoured vodkas, find and liqueurs.

38
Q

Flavour Spirits Flavouring Techniques

A
  • Maceration
  • Re-distillation
  • Essences
39
Q

Maceration

A

Soaking the flavour in ingredients in the spirit.

40
Q

Re-Distillation

A

Re-distilling the spirit with the flavour ingredients.

41
Q

Essences

A

Adding artificial flavours to the spirit.

42
Q

Gin

A
  • Neutral base spirit flavoured with botanicals
  • Must use juniper as main botanical
  • All typically Unaged
43
Q

London Dry Gin

A

Re-distillation in a pot still

No flavourings added after distillation.

44
Q

Distilled Gin

A

Same as London Dry

Flavourings can be added after distillation.

45
Q

Liqueurs

A

A sweetened, flavoured and coloured distilled spirit.

46
Q

Liqueurs Process

A

Base neutral or flavoursome (eg rum, brandy, whiskey)

Flavoured

Sweetened

Coloured (optional)

Liqueur

47
Q

Liqueur Categories

A

Dairy
Fruit
Herb
Seed/ Nut

WSET (8 decks)

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