Great as the demand for this whisky was, and despite the fact that the trade was com pelled to admit that such goods could not attain to full maturity, the only condition in which they were ready for consumption, within less than the specified three years, the improvements in the process of manufacture were slow. It was at about this time that some important changes were made in the science of mashing, and as these not only increased the yield, but lessened the cost of production, the Bourbon whiskies, which had formerly been used so extensively for compounding purposes, began to attain wider popularity as a beverage. It was also quickly discovered that this increase in yield had not injured the quality of the whisky, but that, on the other hand, such goods were of finer grade, the proportion of fusel oil be coming less though the quantity of whisky in creased.
The whisky upon which the reputation of Kentucky so largely depends is that kind of liquor that is known as sour mash, but, un fortunately for the commercial integrity of the distillers, it must be admitted that there are comparatively few establishments that are so careful as to the preservation of their reputa tions that they will distil nothing but genuine sour-mash goods. At the present time the con sumption of whiskies of all grades made in Kentucky is estimated as being nearly 14,000,000 gallons per annum, while the principal States in which ordinary spirits are produced are Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
Owing to its greater availability and cheap ness, grain is the material which is most gen erally used in the distillation of liquors. Fruits, which are verygood for this purpose when they can be obtained, are not only of a perishable nature, but they are not available during the greater portion of the year; thus, while apples, peaches and grapes are used in the manufacture of distilled liquors in California, New York, New Jersey and Ohio, the output is necessarily limited. In the case of fruit brandies, the State of California manufactures more than nine-tenths of the total product of the country.
Rum, which was once one of the popular liquors, is now very little used in this country, being manufactured mainly for export purposes. Made of molasses as the chief material, its dis tillation is confined almost exclusively to New England, where its production is constantly de creasing, owing partly to the fact that grain alcohols are cheaper to manufacture, and partly to the steadily increasing popularity of whisky as a beverage. During the past few years sev eral attempts have been made to distil pure spirits from molasses, hut none of these experi ments hava been successful, owing to the difficulty of eliminating the odor which is characteristic of rum. In the making of pure
spirits, no aging is required. Such prod ucts of the still are ready for manufacturing purposes, or for compounding, the day they are produced, for, no matter how long they are kept, they cannot be improved. It is such a product that is doctored up by the use of coloring and flavoring to the appearance of genuineness in which it is possible to dispose of it as whisky, and some are even made to produce a fairly passable imitation of the real sour-mash liquor.
In reviewing the products of American dis tilleries it is necessary to give more than pass ing attention to the use of distilled spirits in the arts, manufactures and medicines of this country. Among these alcohol and cologne spirits are the most important, although such products as high-wines, whisky, brandy, gin and rum, are also used for these purposes. Pure alcohol is a substance that cannot be ob tained by the process of distillation alone. The alcohol, or rectified spirits of the pharmacopoeias contain, in the United States, 9 per cent by weight of water, and, in Great Britain, 16 per cent ; while the proof-spirits, or diluted alcohol, has per cent by weight of water in the United States, and 51 per cent in Great Britain. In spite of its general undesirability, there can be no doubt but that great quantities of plain alcohol are used as a beverage, and while it is impossible to collect anything like reliable data upon this subject, it has been estimated that no less than 15 barrels of alcohol are thus con sumed in New York city alone every day of the year, and that fully one-half of the alcohol which finds its way to the Northwest is used as a beverage by the Poles, Norwegians, Swedes, Hungarians, Finns and Russians, who abound in that part of the country. It is also a well-estab lished fact that the foreigners who are em ployed in the coal mines of Pennsylvania are great consumers of alcohol.
In the making of pharmaceutical preparations a large proportion of the cost was due here tofore to the use of distilled spirits in their composition. In some of these denatured alcohol may be used with a great saving of the tax formerly paid, but in many cases in which alcohol would be unsuitable, cologne spirits are used, while such liquors as whis, brandy, rum and gin, furnish the basis upon which many proprietary medicines, tinctures and medicinal wines depend, not only for their preservative qualities, but for their effect upon the human system. In fact, it has been estimated that no less than 45 per cent of all the distilled spirits consumed in the United States, are used in the arts, the manufactures and in the making of medicines.