Navigating the Chemistry of Flavor
T
he singular flavor of a spirit might be the result of up to 500 different compounds,1 each compound combining with another to create the unique flavor and aroma. Ah, if only it were so simple to just hand select those compounds and curate the desired flavor when putting together a spirit recipe and choosing your ingredients. The process of distillation has a three-fold impact on compounds. It can concentrate them; it can select for fractions among those compounds within your starting materiWritten by Aaron Knoll als; and it can create completely new compounds.2 While the chemistry of each interaction is varied, they are specific to the starting materials a distiller chooses to begin with. This transformative effect is evident any time a distiller distills with plant material in the process. For example, lavender once distilled tastes like lavender – but does it taste exactly like lavender? Therein lies an interesting legal conundrum presented through the chemistry of distillation. Gin’s legal definition in many places requires “that the taste is predominantly that of juniper.”3 That flavor, while technically having been derived from juniper berries, can vary greatly based on a distiller’s choices and the source materials of the production process. Everything from the terpene content to the terpene ratios within those berries down to the chosen bottling proof can affect that flavor. Acknowledging the full wealth of tools at a distiller’s TABLE 1: Terpenes found in Gin disposal to create a spirit, here Primary non-oxygenated monoterpenes we’ll focus narrowly on one Terpene Min. Max Flavor† part of the process: botanical Intense woody, piney and terpy with camphoraceous and turpentine note. It selection. While it’s impossible α-Pinene 1.95 6.12 has herbal, spicy and slightly tropical nuances to guarantee which of the hunWoody, vegetative, citrus, fruity with a tropical mango and slight leafy minty dreds of aromatic molecules β-Myrcene 2.38 11.09 nuances you will have when you turn off dl-Limonene 1.22 17.21 Sweet, orange, citrus and terpy the still, some knowledge of boγ-terpinene 1.16 2.87 Terpy, citrus, lime-like, oily, green with a tropical fruity nuance tanicals’ aromatic makeup (that Terpy and rancid with slightly woody oxidized citrus notes. It has spice is their starting point) can help p-cymene 0.53 1.75 nuances of green pepper and oregano you steer the flavor in one direcMain oxygenated monoterpenes tion or another. Terpene
Min.
Max
Flavor†
geranyl acetate Linalool
0.25
2.09
Waxy, green, floral, oily and soapy with citrus and winey, rum nuances
1
Perrottet, T (2019)
1.93
36.99
Citrus, orange, lemon, floral, waxy, aldehydic and woody
2
Piggott (2012)
Source: Vichi et al., (2005) and Piggott (2012) † Flavors descriptions compiled from TGSC Information System (www.thegoodscentscompany.com)
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3 Regulation (EU) 2019/787 (2019) W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M