The Government permits distillers to classify their product by types. Whiskies, either rye or bourbon, which have been aged in Government warehouses four or more years and are 'co proof are known as bottled-in-bond whisky. The term bottled-in-bond de rives from the fact that the storing places, warehouses, are in sured against removal of whisky of under four years by surety and Government warranty. Bottled-in-bond whisky cannot be blended with other whisky or adulterated with distilled water or grain neutral spirit ; otherwise it cannot be labelled bottled-in-bond.
Whisky which is less than or more than ioo proof (although the tendency is to reduce the proof to less than ioo) can be labelled straight whisky. This whisky cannot be blended with other whisky but its proof can be adjusted by the addition of distilled water. It cannot be less than 2 years old (1939) but it can be aged as long as the distiller wishes. Blends of straight whiskies are mixtures of two or more straight whiskies without the addition of other foreign substances. These, too, must be 2 or more years old.
Spirit blends or whisky blends are whiskies of the other types mentioned to which have been compounded grain neutral spirit and, on occasion, distilled water. These blends usually are com posed of from 25% to 4o% of straight whisky or whiskies and a balance of grain neutral spirit. These must be labelled as blends and cannot be called whisky without the qualifying adjective.
Of the two classes of whisky, bourbon and rye, about 7o% of all American whisky is of the bourbon class ; 3o% of rye. The bottled-in-bond type, both rye and bourbon, accounts for about 5% of consumption ; blends of straight whiskies account for under 2% of consumption ; spirit blends or whisky blends for about 3o% of consumption ; imported whisky for about 5% of consumption and the balance of American consumption is of straight whisky. (If the 1939 gallonage consumption figure be taken at ioo,000,000, the gallonage consumption of each type of whisky mentioned can be worked out with reasonable accuracy.) Effect of Maturing.—It is a fact which has been recognized
for centuries that alcoholic beverages improve with age. There is little doubt that this improvement is due to changes in the char acter and relative proportion of the secondary ingredients, although the exact nature of the changes is not fully understood. They are undoubtedly dependent in some manner upon the ven tilation of the containing vessel, as no perceptible alteration takes place when the liquid is stored in glass bottles. The degree and rate of maturation depend upon the character of the original spirit, the type of cask and the conditions existing in the place of storage. Generally all the secondary ingredients except fur fural tend to increase with age, although, as their proportions are usually expressed in relation to the ethyl alcohol present, the loss of some of the latter by evaporation may result in an apparent increase which is relative rather than actual. Thus in a very damp cellar the spirit will lose very little in volume, but such loss as occurs will be almost completely confined to the alcohol. In a dry cellar the volume decreases more rapidly, and the loss of water as compared with alcohol is relatively greater. Change in the character of the spirit is also caused by extrac tion of materials from the wood of the cask. There is a limit of time to the beneficial effect of the ageing of the spirit, and when that has been reached the contents of a cask should be immediately bottled, otherwise deterioration will take place.
Physiological Effects.—The nature of the physiological effects produced by the ingestion of spirits varies considerably not only according to the class of spirit (i.e., whether whisky, brandy, rum, etc.) consumed but also with its age and general condition, and there is no doubt that the causation of these phenomena is intimately connected with the nature and quantity of the secondary ingredients. Commenting on a statement in Bailey's Book of Sports to the effect that wine and brandy had a tendency to make a man fall on his side, whisky to make him fall forward, and cider and perry to make him fall on his back, Sir T. Lauder Brunton in giving evidence before the Spirits Commit tee in 1891 suggested that these statements, if correct, might indicate definite injury to various parts of the cerebellum. He was inclined to believe that the varying effect of different spirits might be due to the specific action of the different products on the separate nerve centres.