The fortress of the spirit

The newspaper tried to delay the inscriptions on bottles of true experts in strong alcoholic beverages when choosing far from always focusing on the price. They know how to figure out mysterious letters on the labels that inform the buyer about the place of birth, age and even the taste of the contents of the bottle. The newspaper tried to delay the inscriptions on bottles.

Living water

Medieval monks considered whiskey an effective medicine.

“The consumed is moderately, it slows down aging, helps digestion, drives away melancholy, and returns the enthusiasm. It does not allow the head to dilute, the eyes of the eyes, the tongue is braided, the teeth, the throat, the throat, to fry, the heart of worrying, the stomach, his hands to tremble, - the unknown author, who lived in the 16th century in Scotland, wrote about the whiskey. The very name of “whiskey” comes from the Latin aqua vitae. The first to the first to have a palm of this drink.

Scottish whiskey is customary to divide into three groups: malt, grain and mixed.

Solodovoye is made of barley malt. To obtain such whiskey you need two distillations. After the first, the fortress of the drink is 25%, and after the second - about 75%. The whiskey in oak barrels from under the sherry from 3 to 25 years old is withstanding, depending on the brand. The older the whiskey, the darker. The last stage of the preparation of whiskey is a fantasy on bottles, during which the liquid is diluted with water until the strength is 40%.

If MALT is written on the bottle, then the whiskey is made of barley malt. The type MALT includes, for example, Glenlivet Whisky, Glen Grant, Macallan, different brands of Highland Malt Whisky (produced in the Highland region), softer due to triple distillation of Rosebank whiskey, Littlemill and Ladyburn (it is made in Loland), a patient and a patient and a patient and a patient and a patient and a patient and a patient and a patient and a patient and a patient and a patient and a patient and a patient and a patient Strong whiskey with a strong smell of iodine Island Malt Whisky.

Grain Whisky has been produced since 1909 from corn with barley. He is distilled not in cubes, like malt, but in special distillations and only once. Grain whiskey can be called a semi -finished product, which is used mainly as raw materials for the preparation of mixed whiskey. In wine boutiques you can find one single grain grain grain brand - Choise Old Cameron Brig.

Mixed whiskey is the most common type. It usually mix about forty brands of malt and 5-7 grades of grain whiskey. The resulting potion is stored in the barrel. The inscription on the bottle of Bottled in Scotland guarantees the consumer that the whiskey was overtaken and sustained in Scotland, and the drink is considered the most prestigious, on the bottle of which Premium and Deluxe is written.

Mixed whiskey brands are a great many. In Moscow stores you can find usquaebach (it is produced from the 16th century), Ballantine's Very Old Scotch Whisky (created in 1827). Black & White is one of the most popular whiskey in England, and the world is in demand by Johnnie Walker. Specialists consider the drink in a bottle with a red label a saturated middle fortress, and with black - stronger and more complicated.

Irish whiskey, for example, Old Bushmills, Jameson, Paddy, also in use, but more popular are liquors on their base (Bailey's, Irish Coffee).

American whiskey is in a special way: barrels from the inside are burned with coal, which gives whiskey a golden color and a delicate sweet taste. In the USA, whiskey is divided into Bourbon (based on corn with the addition of rye and barley) and RYE (at least 51% rye). The most famous representatives of American whiskey are Jim Beam, Tennessee Whiskey Jack Daniel's, Johnny Drum, Wild Turkey.

Devil's potion

Cognac, Armanyak and Brandy for an inexperienced tasting toss are not much different from each other.

Cognac is made of white wine, which is exposed to double distillation, withstand it for at least 30 months in oak barrels. For the production of cognac, certain varieties of grapes UGNI BLANC, FOLLE BLANCE, ColOMBARD, SEMILION, BLANC RAME are used.

Once the winemaker Chevalier de la Krua had a terrible dream. The devil, trying to take his soul from him, threw him into boiling water. But Chevalier survived. And then the devil threw him a second time. Waking up, de la Crua immediately tried to apply the process of double boiling to the manufacture of wine. Then the Chevalier brought the drink to the monks of Renorville, but they put it in the basement and remembered the gift only after 15 years. It turned out that cognac was in the barrel. By the end of the 17th century, cognac houses were already created, and in 1909 a decree was published according to which the name Cognac had the right to wear drinks made in a certain territory. In 1938, this territory was divided into six districts. Grande Champagne produce cognacs with a floral taste. Cognacs from Petite Champagne have a less subtle taste. In the area of Borders make cognacs with the aroma of violet. Fins Bois is famous for cognacs with the smell of fresh grapes. Bois Ordinaires cognacs have aromas of algae, iodine and sea. In Bons Bois, cognacs ripen quickly and the taste has tart and a little sharp. On the label they usually write in which area cognac was made. Also, on a bottle, you can determine the age of cognac alcohol. For example, the abbreviation VS (Very Superior) implies that cognac alcohol is at least two and a half years old (he has from 1 to 5 stars). Cognacs with the inscription Superior should be at least 3.5 years, the stars on the label can be from five or more. The abbreviation VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale) says that the drink is at least 4.5 years old, and VVSOP is Grand Reserv, which is at least five and a half. The age of Napoleon XO is more than 6.5 years. Any cognac is a blend (a combination of different grape varieties), and the inscription on the label indicates the age of the youngest component.

The older brother of cognac

Armane is an even more ancient drink than cognac. It arose at the junction of Roman, Arab and Celtic cultures. The Romans planted vineyards in the field of Armane, Arabs brought a distillation apparatus, and the Celts - oak barrels. The first sale of Armanaka dates from 1411. The real Armagnac is now produced in the southeast of France in the zones of the departments of the pole, Landa and Lo-i-Garronna. In the manufacture, UGNI BLANC grapes are used (as in cognac), as well as Colombard, Folle Blanche. Armanyak cannot ripen in barrels for more than 40 years, after this period it is poured into bottles.

Armane is a double or continuous distillation, which should end until April 30 of the year following the year of the crop. Professionals distinguish between seven main shades of Armane: peach, violet, linden, prunes, pepper, hazelnut and vanilla. The inscriptions on the bottle characterizing the age of the drink are deciphered as follows: VS - at least 1.5 years; VO/VSOP/Reserve - at least 4.5 years, Napoleon/Extra/Vieille Reserve/Hors d'Age/XO - at least 5.5 years. Hors d'Age means alcohol withstand for more than 10 years. Millesimal armored carriers are especially appreciated - drinks, designed at least 10 years.

Brandy brands

To create the illusion that the brands were kept in an oak barrel, caramel is often added to it, but this does not speak about the second -rate of the drink.

The inscriptions on the label are taken from cognac terminology, but serve only by decoration. Sometimes the bottles indicate which fruit was used in manufacture. The main Italian brands of Brandy - Bouton and Stock 84, Spanish - Ribero and Ferreira. The Greek brandy Metaxa has been popular with us for the past ten years.

In Russia, Brandy is usually called cognac, but since cognac is written in Russian, the French have no complaints about manufacturers.

Russian cognacs and cognacs of the countries of the former CIS are divided into ordinary, collectible and stroke. Ordinaries are called brandy, sustained in barrels from 3 to 5 years. The number of stars corresponds to the deadline for withstand. Truck cognacs are more aged: from three to 10 years and even more.

The abbreviation of the KV (a conical horse) means that it has matured from 6 to 7 years old, the KVVK (sipped of the highest quality) - from 8 to 10 years, and the KS (old cognac) or OS (very old) - for more than 10 years.

Collectible cognacs are made from grafts and withstand them for another three years.

Such a classification system was adopted back in the USSR, and many modern manufacturers are now borrowing the labeling from the French.

Armenian, Azerbaijani, Dagestan and Uzbek cognacs have a vanilla aroma. Krasnodar and Georgian are lighter and lighter, cognacs from Moldova and Ukraine have a vanilla aroma, but thinner than Armenian to taste.

Alchemy of vodka

The Italian alchemists of the XII century, who, according to some historians, were discovered by vodka, through distillation, were distinguished from wine, as they seemed to be the spirit of this drink.

In 1865, the Russian formula of vodka was bred. Dmitry Mendeleev defended the thesis “On the connection of alcohol to water”, where he prescribed that a liter of 40-degree vodka should weigh exactly 953 grams. Vodka is obtained by processing with active coal of a solution of water and alcohol and subsequent filtration. Alcohol is of the highest cleaning, extra and luxury. The first is made of potatoes or grain. Extra and luxury - only from grain. In the 70s, the fortress of vodka began to be indicated as a percentage (the fortress means 0.01 part of one hundred percent alcohol).

The shelf life of vodka is 12 months. After this period, a precipitate may appear, the alkalinity of the drink will increase and the taste worsen. Nutritionists say that in small doses, vodka is useful, and in large quantities it turns into poison and leads to poisoning.

03/24/2005 / Inna Osinovskaya