The adulteration of distilled liquors in all parts of the world has been continuous and extensive. Perhaps there is no other country where adulteration has reached such proportions as in our own. The discussion of the adulteration of whisky is typical of that which takes place with other distilled liquors, namely, brandy, rum and gin. All of them may be considered as coming under one head, and the statements which are made of whisky may be applied with equal force to the other forms of distilled liquors. The principal types of adulteration are the following:

First

Selling raw spirits, that is, freshly distilled whiskies, under the guise of age by means of artificial coloring. When whiskies are stored in wood, especially in charred wood, they gradually take on a light amber, deep amber or reddish tint, according to the time of storage and the degree of temperature to which they are subjected. This process can be imitated at once by coloring to the desired tint by means of caramel (burnt sugar). Thus the spirit is mixed with the coloring matter, which gives it the appearance of age and deceives the customer. This method of adulteration may be practised in another way, namely, the spirit is stored in a warehouse which is artificially heated. The high temperature causes a more rapid absorption of the color from the wood than otherwise would take place, thus securing in a few months a depth of color which otherwise would have required three or four years to produce.

Second

Substitution for whisky of a spirit rectified more or less completely and from which, therefore, the substances which give to whisky its character have been entirely or in part removed. This method of adulteration is by far the most extensive of all. A true whisky is a spirit which not only contains ethyl alcohol but a large number of other substances - alcohols, acids, esters, ethers, aldehydes, oils and other flavoring matters derived either directly from the grain, congeneric with alcohol in fermentation, produced by new combinations of ingredients during ageing, or extracted from the wood in which the spirit is aged. All of these ingredients act together to produce the flavor and character of the particular spirit. Substituting for this genuine whisky an article made from rectified spirit saves a great deal of time, expense and loss by storage. The true rectified spirit may be made from any source from which alcohol can be produced, but in point of fact is made principally in the United States from Indian corn. This rectified spirit is known as alcohol, neutral spirit, cologne spirit or velvet spirit, and other similar designations. The procedure is a perfectly simple one. All that is needed to make so-called whisky in this way are mixing vessels and a store of flavors and oils made by a chemist and having more or less resemblance to the natural flavors produced in the making of genuine whisky.

Third

The third method of adulteration is the refilling of bottles and other packages which have contained genuine whisky with an adulterated article which is still sold under the same name. This has been a very common offense not only against the food law but the revenue laws, which punish with great severity an adulteration of this kind. The latest case of this kind of adulteration to which my attention has been called is a sentence passed on December 4, 1916, against certain offenders by Federal Judge Anderson of Indianapolis. The defendants were indicted for refilling "Bottled in Bond" bottles and selling their contents as "Bottled in Bond Whisky." This was done without destroying or removing the revenue tax stamp by which the "Bottled in Bond Whisky" is identified. Each of the defendants was fined a hundred dollars and costs and sentenced to serve 30 days in jail. The records of the Bureau of Internal Revenue show many offenses of this kind constantly occurring throughout the liquor trade.