Editorial pubs.acs.org/OPRD
Still Magic that is sometimes eaten as an accompaniment to fish. Sadly, the new gin is not yet available in North America, but hopefully that situation will change soon. It has been interesting to see what a couple of process chemists have achieved in a new area of chemistry manufacturing. This demonstrates to me that process chemists have multiple talents and can turn their hand to a variety of occupations. Whilst still on the alcohol theme, there have been chemists who have set up breweries and others who have gone into wine production. The scientific training and the knowledge picked up by process chemists of the importance of quality raw materials, reproducibility, process control, cleanliness, etc. must stand them in good stead when manufacturing high-quality products. Process chemistry is so multidisciplinary, part of the attraction for many scientists and engineers, but also it is a good education for careers in other areas.
I
recently returned from a walking holiday in Scotland where I walked 60 miles of the Speyside Way in 4.5 days. The Speyside region of Northern Scotland, based round the River Spey in the Cairngorms National Park, is well-known for two reasons besides the mountain scenery, namely, salmon fishing and whisky production. The former has never interested me, except to eat the salmon, but the latter has always had a fascination. Whether this is because I am a chemist or whether it has to do with my Scottish genes, I am not sure, but during the healthy vacation, I had many an opportunity to sample the products of the hundreds of distilleries in the area, and drank an unhealthy number (but not hundreds!) of the finest single malts. I was reminded of the pleasures of imbibing a “wee dram” when reading a review of a new book entitled The Science and Commerce of Whisky1 which I intend to add to my reading list. Of course, whisky when it is first distilled does not have a great taste (after it has been diluted of course), and it is only when it has been stored in a barrelknown as maturationthat the flavours are enhanced. The whisky is usually stored with a 60− 70% alcohol content (cask strength) and presumably slowly extracts some of the chemicals from the wood. This is why the type of wood is important, but also what has previously been stored in the barrel can have a major effect on the taste. Some whisky distilleries use only oak barrels which have previously been used for sherry or bourbon, and the flavour matures over 12, 18, or 25 years. It would be interesting to know the structure of the compounds extracted which contribute to the differences between an 18-year-old and a 25-year-old MacAllen (my personal favorite). Clearly, more research is needed on my part. Reading the book whilst drinking a good measure of 25year-old seems to be called forwhat a pleasant way to spend an evening! There are some long-standing traditions regarding whisky tasting, and it would be interesting to find the underlying science behind them. One is that good whisky should always be served at room temperature and never with ice. Straight from the bottle, the alcohol content is usually about 40−45%, but connoisseurs usually add an extra drop of water to “bring out the flavour”. So how does that work? I hope to find out from reading the book. There is clearly as much mystery (and hype?) in whisky tasting as in wine tasting! In contrast to whisky, gin is ready to drink right after it has been distilled and diluted since all the flavour components (known as botanicals) are added prior to the distillation. It is also, in my opinion, best drunk with ice and not at room temperature (I never put tonic in it−it hides the wonderful flavours!). I have recently been educated in this respect since two process chemist friends of mine used their redundancy money from GlaxoSmithKline, when the site at Tonbridge, UK, closed a couple of years ago, to set up a gin distillery in Kent, and their first product, known as Anno Gin (www. annodistillers.co.uk), has been receiving rave reviews. A recent column in the Times sang its praisesone of the distinctive botanicals used is samphire, a form of seaweed or sea vegetable © 2014 American Chemical Society
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Trevor Laird, Editor AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
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REFERENCES
(1) Buxton, I.; Hughes, P. S. The Science and Commerce of Whisky; Royal Society of Chemistry: Cambridge, 2014; 290 pp, ISBN 9781849731508.
Published: July 9, 2014 833
dx.doi.org/10.1021/op500184r | Org. Process Res. Dev. 2014, 18, 833−833
