StillSmart

I promised this some time ago and kept putting off finishing it.

It is a rough Guide to Spirit Cuts and should be taken as just that - a rough Guide.



AM

good and very informative thanks for puttin this up

Nice work Aidan! Thanks!

Chuck

Its a great guide and not rough at all IMHO. Simple, informative, professional are words that come to mind. (BTW, I know you are always improving your still equipment, but surely the pictures on the front and second back pages arent taken in your shed ).

Thank you, Aidan, it's a 'keeper'.

Aidan, that is fantastic.

The best way to learn is by understanding the process, and you elucidated that very well.

I love the pictures too. I didn't know weed killer was your secret ingredient!

Shhhh! Keep it quiet! That's only for the in-laws Special Christmas Whiskey - they won't be staying here long

AM

Excellent write up Aiden, I wish I had something as clear as that when I was starting out.
Its obviously aimed at the process of collecting a neutral spirit, I find with heavily flavoured spirits it becomes even trickier.
With rum, nearly all the heads smell good, so your taste becomes more important than your smell.

Also down at the tails end I find you do have to swallow a little when doing the final blend. There is a difference when you swallow spirit, and it is the only way I can judge how much of the early tails to include in the final product, These tails can add some of the after taste and can make the spirit feel thicker in your mouth.

With neutral I don't need to go to such lengths as you are just looking for flavourless spirit rather than trying to judge flavours that will be complimentary.
For neutral another good tip is to mix it with a little soft drink that you enjoy (I use tonic water) its easy to detect an off flavour with the familiar flavour in the foreground.

Similar with Bourbon and that's the very reason I decided to stick to the neutral spirit because I get a lot of PMs and emails asking how to...

I don't mind answering the questions at anytime but I though it was something worth doing to pass on the basic know-how...and it is basic

I'm hoping someone else, hint, hint, will take up the Baton and do an addendum to go into the Guide describing cuts for different spirit types like Gin or Rum. I'm happy to do the layout and re-do the Guide to include such different descriptions including pics and contributors credits and even relabel it as feature of the forum - subject to approval by Jimmy, of course. Morning m'Lord.

This would be a great feature to have here.....have I twisted your arm enough yet!

AM

Wrong post