Concerning injurious constituents in whisky and their relation to flavour / by Sir Lauder Brunton and F.W. Tunnicliffe.

  • Brunton, Thomas Lauder, Sir, 1844-1916.
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Concerning injurious constituents in whisky and their relation to flavour / by Sir Lauder Brunton and F.W. Tunnicliffe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    17/21 page 13
    Nobody, so far as we know, has ever isolated it from raw whisky. With regard to the acetal corresponding to furfural we have no knowledge nor have we been able to obtain any information. That furfural undergoes but little change during maturation is evident from the fact that the quanti- tative estimations of it in raw and mature whisky differ but slightly. This difference, furfural apparently diminishing with age can certainly be explained by its evaporation—the assumption that some furfural has been fixed or oxidised is entirely gratuitous. It must further be remembered that the acetals are unstable bodies and in the presence of dilute acids readily decompose into the corresponding alcohol and aldehyde. Conclusions. From the above considerations we seem justified in con- cluding that the aldehydes to which the initial irritating taste and flavour of raw pot-still whisky must be ascribed are only indirectly—viz., by their disappearance—concerned with the ultimate bouquet of old whisky. It further appears that since at least some of the energy of maturation is spent upon the disappearance of these substances it is probable that an initially dealdehyded spirit will become mature in a shorter time than an ordinary one. The last conclusion that we would draw is that since the aldehydes and furfural do not seem necessary for the production of whisky they are from the point of view of the public health better removed from it. Pilnted at TheLan:et Office, 423, Strand, W.U.
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