ALCOHOL. —Brandt.
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oils at once to the pure spirit, to procure the desiredliquor, and by this means obviate the necessity ofdistilling, and the risk of injury to the stills by themixtures mentioned, -which appear to have no atomicrule for their basis.
Brandt. —This liquor is generally obtained fromthe high-coloured, white, or pale-red wines of thesouth of Europe , but is often manufactured frominferior articles, such as the refuse wine and themarcs of the wine press.
Distillation of the wines is the only thing neces-sary to procure this spirit; hence, the richer thewine in alcohol, the greater will be the yield ofbrandy. A simple test with an alcoholometer willdetermine the value of the wine as to the yield ofbrandy; but many other circumstances, indepen-dent of the manufacture, enhance the quality ofthe product.
Thus, the white wines do not always afford morealcohol than the red, though the spirit from theformer is of a much finer quality, the reason beingthat they contain more of the essential oil of thegrapes. It is also a singular fact, that those wineswhich carry with them a certain taste of the soil,communicate it to the brandy derived from them bydistillation; thus, the wines of Selluel, in Dauphine,give a brandy which has the flavour and the taste ofFlorentine iris; those of St. Pierre, in Vivarais , givea spirit which smells of the violet, and so of manyother varieties.
Wines from the countries nearest the Mediter-ranean furnish the largest proportion of brandy.The wines from the south of France yield one-fourthof brandy, some even one-third, while in the northof France the amount is only about one-eighth.
The better qualities of brandy are invariably dis-tilled from white wines; first, because a greateryield of brandy, and of a better quality is obtained;and secondly, because those wines fine more quickly,and can be distilled into brandy sooner than the redwines.
The principal stills employed on the Continentare those of Champonnois, Dep.osne, St. Marc, andLaugier, in France ; of Pistorius, and variousmodifications of his apparatus, in Germany . Withthese stills, the spirit comes over of any requisitestrength, up to the strongest spirit of wine; butif the ordinary still is employed, the receiver ischanged when the vapour arising from the boilerignites but feebly, and the eau-de-vie-seconde, orrepasse, is collected by itself, till the whole of thealcohol in the wine has been exhausted. The liquidremaining in the still is called vinasse.
The campaign , or distilling season, in France , isfrom the beginning of October to the end of May.
The following is an average of the yield of brandywhich some of the wines afford by distillation :—
1000 litres of wine of St. Gilles, in the environs of
Montpellier , afford of 3/6 brandy,.... 150 litres.
“ “ of good wine of calcareous soils. 140 “
“ “ of wines of fertile soils near Montpellier , 100 “
“ “ of wines of soils producing much grapes, 100 “
Payen gives the following table of the propor-
tions by volume of pure alcohol contained in 100parts of various kinds of wine :—
Port and Madeira,. 20
Xeres, Lacryma Clrristi, 17
Old Madeira,. 16
Juran^on, white,. 15-2
“ red. 13-7
Malaga,. 15*0
Vauvert,. 13-3
Hermitage, white,. 15-5
Sauterne,. 15
Volnay,. 14*7
Chambertin,. 12*4
Chateau Lafitte,. 8*7
Chateau Margaux,. 8*7
Chateau Latour,. 9*3
Saint Estephe,. 9*7
Bordeaux claret,. 13
Barsac, white,.13*7
Poundensac, red,. 13*7
Saint Emilion,. 9*1
Cubzac,. 8*7
Giscours. 9*4
Laroze-kirwan,... 6*3
Cantenac,. 9*2
Volnay,. 11
Macon,. 10
Champagne,. 11*6
Saumur. 9*9
Tokay,. 9*1
Khine,. 11*9
Chatillon,. 7*5
Brandy, as sold in France , is generally of twodegrees of gravity; these strengths are thus desig-nated —a preuve de Holland, and a preuve d’huile; theformer varies from 18° to 20° of Beaume. Thestronger liquids are valued according to the quantityof eau de vie, or brandy a, preuve de Holland, that agiven quantity will furnish on the addition of theproper proportion of water. These strengths areusually twelve, namely, Jive-six, four-five, three-four,two-three, three-five, four-seven, five-nine, six-eleven,three-six, three-seven, three-eight, and three-nine, butthe last is rarely made. The meaning of thesestrengths is understood in the following sense:—If a spirit be five-six, five parts of the spirit willgive a liquor d preuve de Holland, when added to sixmeasures of water; if three-six, three measures whenadded to six of water will yield a spirit of the samestandard, and so of the remainder.
The spirit five-six strength is of a specific gravity0*9237, or 22° Beaume; but all the other strengthsare subject to variation, on account of the uncer-tainty of the strength a prmve de Holland, as beforeshown. Wines, when distilled carefully from a cleanapparatus, yield a distillate which is nearly colour-less, and when it is wished to retain it in this state,vessels of glass or stoneware are employed. Afterbeing put in casks and left in them, the clear liquoracquires a little colour by extracting the solublematters of the wood; the flavour, however, is notmaterially affected if the casks arc old; when newcasks are used, the tannic acid of the wood, whichis generally oak, communicates a deep colour andastringency of taste which is quite foreign to thebrandy.
The brandy from different localities, and even froma different variety of grape grown on the same place,possesses, as already remarked, an aroma characteris-tic of the wine whence it is obtained, and which isreadily perceptible to those well versed in the trade.An experienced taster will readily distinguish thebrandies of Languedoc, Bordeaux, Armagnac, Cognac,Aunis, Kochelle, Orleans, Barcelona, Naples, &c.;further, he can say from what species of fruit it isderived; and he will also discern minute shades of dif-ference in the qualities of various brandies from thesame source. Beal cognac is obtained from the dis-tillation of the choicest wines, every regard being