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Unraveling the secrets of Tennessee whiskey:
More than a century has passed since the last scientific analyses of the famed "Lincoln County [Tennessee] process" was published, but the secrets of the famous Tennessee whiskey flavor are starting to unravel at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. The latest research promises advancements in the field of flavor science as well as marketing.
Conducted(sic) John P. Munafo, Jr., assistant professor of flavor science and natural products, and his graduate student, Trenton Kerley, the study "Changes in Tennessee Whiskey Odorants by the Lincoln County Process" was recently published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (JAFC).
[...] Munafo and Kerley describe how distillers adjust parameters empirically throughout the whiskey production process, then rely on professional tasters to sample products, blending subtly unique batches to achieve their target flavor. Munafo says, "By gaining a fundamental understanding of the changes in flavor chemistry occurring during whiskey production, our team could advise distillers about exactly what changes are needed to make their process produce their desired flavor goals. We want to give distillers levers to pull, so they are not randomly or blindly attempting to get the precise flavor they want."
[...] The only previous investigation into how charcoal treatment affects whiskey was published in 1908 by William Dudley in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The new study revealed fresh knowledge for optimizing Tennessee whiskey production. Thirty-one whiskey odorants were measured via a technique called stable isotope dilution assay (SIDA), all showing a decrease in concentration as a result of LCP treatment, albeit to different degrees. That is to say, while the LCP appears to be selective in removing certain odorants, the process didn't increase or add any odorants to the distillate. This new knowledge can be used to optimize Tennessee whiskey production. For instance, the process can be optimized for the removal of undesirable aromas, while maintaining higher levels of desirable aromas, thus "tailoring" the flavor profile of the finished whiskey.
Journal Reference:
Changes in Tennessee Whiskey Odorants by the Lincoln County Process, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c03058)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by PiMuNu on Tuesday September 08 2020, @03:00PM (2 children)
... is the Jack Daniels marketing budget
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 08 2020, @06:25PM (1 child)
You summed up the entire wine industry!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09 2020, @01:30AM
> You summed up the entire
wineindustry!FTFY
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 08 2020, @05:05PM (6 children)
It's dirt cheap compared to whiskey.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by fakefuck39 on Tuesday September 08 2020, @06:51PM (5 children)
goose, stoli elit, and beluga gold aren't cheap. The rest taste like rubbing alcohol in comparison. did you know in russia they've never heard of stoli, and it's like corona - only for export? beluga's actually russian, but only good because it's actually a cocktail with a whole bunch of shit. so fuckem - I stuck to goose back when I drank.
whiskey from tn rednecks - no thanks. if it's american, bourbon is fine, stick to that. for whiskey i'll go with scotch, or irish if i want smth with a smooth port-like finish. mixed with water. american whiskey? that's like american vodka - smirnoff - also added to gasoline.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 08 2020, @09:38PM
So it too tastes like it was expressed out of a skunk's ass?
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday September 09 2020, @03:14AM (3 children)
In ages past, someone did an experiment on cheap vs expensive vodka... ran the cheap stuff through a Britta-type filter, then comparison-tasted. After three passes through the filter, cheap vodka tasted just like the good stuff, implying the problem was mostly contaminants.
I wonder if it would also work for whiskey.
[I don't drink either one, so will not be attempting the experiment. Whiskey falls under, "How can something that smells so lovely taste so vile?"]
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09 2020, @05:13AM (1 child)
Properly made vodka has no taste. That is the whole point of vodka and why I don't understand what the hell "craft vodka" is.
Whiskey on the other hand is all about impurities and contaminants. That's where flavor comes from. Same with most other distilled spirits and all of them that are aged in casks.
(Score: 1) by fakefuck39 on Wednesday September 09 2020, @09:24AM
>Properly made vodka has no taste.
this is what a hip american college kid says after reading another kid just like him say it. this is completely false. the best vodka right now is considered the russian beluga gold. they export it - give it a try.
good vodka is not made for mixers - it's made for shots. it absolutely has a taste, it costs 3x as much. vodka was not designed to be mixed. there is cheap vodka made for mixers, that aims to have no taste. since this is a very old russian alcohol, trust me on this - authentic vodka was not being mixed with orange juice or sprite at the time of zars, and it's still not.
(Score: 1) by fakefuck39 on Wednesday September 09 2020, @09:18AM
it made popov taste like smirnoff, but it did not make it taste like expensive vodka. It was done by idiots who think smirnoff is the expensive vodka. Expensive vodka like goose is already is run through an inducstrial activated charcoal filter. Beluga is also run through a silver filter. Running it through a tiny brita activated charcoal filter after that does nothing, as it's been already run through a house-sized brita filter.
Running whiskey through a filter would turn it into vodka. If you think it tastes vile, you're drinking crap and doing it wrong. Have some blue label king george mixed half with spring water. And don't put ice in it.