The low wines are conducted to the small stills and subjected to a second distillation for the purpose of bringing them to an alcoholic strength suitable for bonding, namely, from 55 to 60 per cent by volume of alcohol. The first parts that come over are very rich in alcohol, and as the distillation proceeds the alcoholic strength falls. When the distillate, after mixing, reaches the strength desired, as given above, the remainder of the distillate is collected in a separate vessel and mixt with the low wines of the next charge. When the alcohol is all over, or nearly so, the lees are drawn off, treated as spent beer, and the still recharged with low wines plus the low alcoholic residues from the previous distillation. Thus practically all the volatile matters are finally collected into a spirit of from 55 to 60 per cent by volume of ethyl alcohol. The lees and spent beer of course contain more or less of the alcohols and other bodies of high boiling points and in this way a portion of such bodies is removed. There is always enough of them, however, to give character and flavor to the distillate and provide those bodies which in the process of aging give the distinctive flavor and value to the product. Every part of the process is controlled and checked by the excise officers, whose lock and seal are kept on every valve and other opening whence any of the spirits might be surreptitiously withdrawn. Figure 3 gives a general view of the instalment of two Scotch pot stills. The spirit is stored in oak casks, and those in which sherry wine has been matured are particularly sought after. A good sherry cask often sells for as much as 50 shillings. The sherry wood is said to yield a peculiar and desirable flavor to the whisky and also to impart a deeper color thereto than is given by the plain wood. Previous charring of the inside of the plain wood barrels is not practised, and these casks color the spirit very little even after the lapse of five years. Whisky made in the manner just described is genuine Scotch whisky, and it is doubtful if any other product, without some qualifying word, is entitled to bear that name. GRAIN SPIRIT DISTILLERIES. The grain spirit, or silent spirit, distilleries, while not numerous, are of very large capacity and without doubt make more gallons of spirit than are produced by the hundred and more malt distilleries. The grain spirit distilleries are by no means all in Scotland. Many of them are in England and Ireland, and the products are used for mixing with malt whisky. The grain used in these distilleries, as far as could be ascertained, is without exception Indian corn imported from the United States. The process employed is extremely simple. The Indian corn is ground, mashed with sufficient malt to convert the starch into sugar, fermented in the usual way, and the beer thus produced is run at once into a so-called patent still. The patent still is composed of two parts, the first a complex system of copper pipe 6 inches or more in diameter, and in a still of moderate size a mile or more in length (5,000 to 6,000 feet), built up in parallel layers into a column 50 feet or more in height. The tubes are immersed in an atmosphere of steam, and in these tubes the rectification is accomplished, the greater part of all the congeners of fermentation except ethyl alcohol being separated by passing thru these tubes. The fusel oils are collected and utilized in commerce for making amylacetate, etc. The ethyl alcohol coming from the rectifying part of the still enters the second part, called the analyzer, which is a common chambered still in which the ethyl alcohol is condensed to about 94 per cent, by volume, pure alcohol. There is, of course, an incidental rectification due to this concentration, but the products of this rectification are not collected. The resulting product is an alcohol (ethyl) of high strength and purity. It is not a perfectly pure alcohol, but one of approximate purity, having left in it only a small part of those congeners of fermentation which give bouquet and flavor to pure whisky. This product is also stored in wood, as was described in the case of malt whisky. It is the grain or silent spirit which is so abundantly used for mixing with malt whisky to produce the "Scotch whisky" usually met with in commerce. In respect of price the grain spirit, as described above, is much cheaper per proof gallon when first made than malt whisky of the same alcoholic strength. For instance, a proof gallon (English) of grain spirit is worth, when made, say, 30 cents. A gallon of malt whisky of the same strength is worth 50 cents. The commercial advantage of using large quantities of grain spirit in the preparation of the whiskies of commerce is at once apparent. The manufacture of grain spirit is conducted under the same excise supervision and regulations as are applied to malt whisky. It follows that it is possible for the excise officials to follow each package of such spirit from the time it is made until it is delivered for domestic consumption or for export. A mixture of yellow and white maize is used in the manufacture of this grain spirit. Inspection of the maize used showed it to be of fair average quality. The amount of malt employed, aside from the quantity necessary to convert the starch, is optional with the manufacturer. Since the distillate is rectified, there is no advantage, in so far as the subsequent use of the product for mixing is concerned, in using a larger quantity of malt than is required to furnish the requisite vigor of diastatic action. Samples of malt whisky and of grain spirit were secured under careful supervision in many distilleries, sealed, and forwarded to the Bureau of Chemistry for analysis. IRISH WHISKY. The number of distilleries in Ireland is small compared to Scotland, but they are generally of a very much greater capacity. Distilleries in the north of Ireland, and at Belfast and Dublin, were inspected. Irish whisky is quite different in composition from Scotch. In Ireland very little pure malt whisky is made. On the other hand, it may be said that Irish whisky does not resemble that of American origin to any greater extent than it does Scotch. Only one distillery of those visited in Ireland uses malt alone. The others use malt, together with unmalted barley and a small quantity of other 2 1 FIG. 4.-Two types of Irish pot stills. cereals, such as rye, wheat, and oats. Indian corn, apparently, is not used at all, or at least only to a limited extent. The malt which is used is not dried over peat, and hence the Irish whisky does not have that smoky taste so characteristic of the Scotch product. Usually, when unmalted grain is used, malt makes up about one-half of the whole mash. The other half consists largely of unmalted barley, very small quantities of rye or oats, or both, be-, ing used. The mashing, the cooling of the wort, and the fermentation are conducted as in Scotland. The distilleries are of great capacity, and the vats and stills correspondingly large in size. For this reason the pot stills, altho usually heated over an open fire, are reenforced by steam coils. The method of distillation is the same as in Scotland, but the whisky is warehoused at a much higher proof, viz, about 67 per cens by volume. Practically all the beer stills are supplied with a horizontal attachment to the neck before the pipe enters the worm, where a partial condensation takes place, this product being returned directly to the still, thus producing low wines of greater alcoholic strength. The finished product is thus secured with a higher per cent of alcohol. The accompanying illustration (fig. 4) shows the form of the stills used at two of the Dublin distilleries. There are six huge pot stills of the type shown as No. 1, figure 4, holding from 19,000 to 25,000 gallons each, under which 50 tons of coal a day are burned. In addition to the open fire each still, except the spirit still, has an auxiliary steam coil. The stills are in batteries of four, two for producing low wines, one for special treatment of the feints, and one low wine still for the purpose of making the spirits of the |