When I first started writing about the world of spirits, the first thing I learned was the definition of alcohol. Without learning that, it would be pretty difficult to write about gin, vodka, whiskey, or any other hard liquor.
This is what I learned: in the simplest terms, alcohol (also known as ethanol) is a liquid that’s made from the natural fermentation of sugars interacting with yeast. It has an intoxicating effect and, while it’s also used for fuel and other purposes, it’s often enjoyed as a drink. As a drink, alcohol is either a wine, beer, or spirit. And while we write about all three, today, we’re most interested in the latter.
Spirits, also referred to as liquor, are a group of alcoholic drinks made by fermenting fruits, grains, and other ingredients. After fermentation, spirits are distilled and then bottled or aged for months or years. While beer alcohol content might be around 4-10% and wine between 12-15%, liquor can range between 40-75% alcohol by volume. So now you know the basics about spirits, but what do you know about hard liquor and its history?
“Distillation is a really recent development—at least in the context of our relationship to alcohol,” Edward Slingerland, a philosophy professor at the University of British Columbia, told History.com.
What he says is that while there were some references to ancient distillation, it really gained in popularity in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe. The rest, as they say, is history. It continued to gain in popularity through the centuries while techniques and innovation has progressed.
The main types of spirits
While there are random spirits like aquavit, absinthe, advocaat (and more), there are only a few well-known spirit types. These include whisk(e)y, brandy, gin, rum, vodka, and liqueurs. Today, we’re going to take a deep dive into each spirit to get to know a little about their history, what they’re made from, what they taste like, and some of the different subsets of each.
Whisk(e)y
In the spirits world, there’s nothing bigger than whisk(e)y. While ingredients and processes change based on distillers and the type of whiskey being produced, in essence whiskey is made by mashing a grain (wheat, rye, barley, corn, or something else), fermenting it with yeast, distilling, and maturation, (and sometimes finishing) in various wood types.
Depending on where it’s from, it’s either spelled whisky or whiskey. While the rest of the world omits the ‘e’, the United States. Mexico and Ireland use it.
Not only is whiskey the most well-known spirit, it’s also the most complicated. That’s because there are so many different types of whiskey. In the U.S. alone, there’s bourbon, rye whiskey, Tennessee whiskey, American single malt whiskey, and more. There’s also Canadian whisky, Irish whiskey, Japanese whisky, single malt Scotch whisky, blended Scotch whisky, and random whiskies from countries all over the world.
While different whiskeys have varying ingredients, aromas, and flavor profiles, most whiskey has flavors like vanilla, oak, caramel, and baking spices.
Brandy
If whisk(e)y is the most complicated spirit, brandy is a close second. In the simplest terms, brandy is a spirit made from fermented grapes, wine, or fruit juice (like apple juice or berry juice). Like with other spirits, once it’s distilled, it begins as a clear spirit. Like whiskey, rum, and tequila, it’s often matured for months or years in wooden barrels.
Brandy is an umbrella term for a handful of notable spirits. This includes by far the most famous brandy: cognac. This French brandy is made from grape in the area around Cognac, France. Other French brandies include Armagnac (from the Gascony region of France near Bordeaux) and Calvados (from the Normandy region of France). Other brandies include Brandy de Jerez (from Spain), Metaxa (from Greece), Pisco (from Chile and Peru), and Grappa (from Italy).
Gin
At first glance, gin might not seem like a complex spirit. But it really is. This popular form of alcohol begins as a neutral spirit. It’s then infused with juniper berries and other herbs and botanicals like Angelica root, orange peels, licorice, grains of paradise, and more.
While that’s a generic explanation of gin, it’s more complicated and nuanced than that. There are many different types of gin. The most popular style is London Dry Gin. This dry gin is made with juniper, herbs, and botanicals with no artificial flavors of sweeteners added. Other gin styles include Plymouth Gin (a dry gin that’s my exclusively at one distillery in Plymouth, England), Navy Strength Gin (a high-proof gin that’s over 57% alcohol by volume), Old Tom Gin (a sweeter, more traditional gin), Jenever (a Dutch gin that resembles whiskey or rum), and most contemporary style: New Western Dry Gin (craft gins popular in the U.S. that lean less into juniper and more into botanicals).
Rum
Rum is a spirit crafted from fermented molasses or sugar cane juice. When distilled, it’s clear. It’s often bottled immediately after being proof down, aged for a short time, or spends months or years maturing in oak barrels. Like the other spirits on our list, there are a handful of common rum types.
The most well-known rum is white (or silver) rum. This unaged (or briefly aged) rum is clear in appearance and often used as a base for cocktails. Other rum varieties include Gold Rum (lightly aged), Dark Rum (matured for months or years), Black Rum (made with additional caramel or other flavorings), Spiced Rum (gets its flavor from the addition of spices), Navy Strength Rum (a high-proof rum over 57% ABV), and a few more.
Vodka
Originating in Poland and Russia, Vodka is a clear, neutral grain spirit made by fermenting the sugars from various grains, fruits, or starches. Common ingredients include wheat, rye, corn, potatoes, beets, and various fruits. Vodka is crafted to be as flavorless and odorless as possible.
Distillers do this by distilling and filtering it through charcoal (and other materials) multiple times. Most often bottled as a clear, unaged spirit, it’s sometimes flavored with things like citrus, berries, vanilla, and even toasted marshmallow flavoring.
Mezcal
You might be confused to see Mezcal on this list instead of Tequila. In the simplest terms, all tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila. If you didn’t guess it already, mezcal is the umbrella term for all agave-based Mexican spirits. That means that tequila is a type of mezcal.
There are a few differences between the two spirits. Both are made by roasting, crushing, fermenting, and distilling agave. Tequila is only made with Blue Weber agave (in the state of Jalisco and a few other states), while mezcal can be made with forty or more different agave types and is produced in Oaxaca and a few other states.
