The non-volatile composition of distilled spirits evolves as the spirits age. Distilled spirits extract a range of phenolic compounds from the wooden casks in which they are stored, including lignin and ellagitannin degradation products arising from the charring or toasting of the interior surface of the barrel, as well intact ellagitannins and lignans from parts of the stave below the heat affected surface layers. Wood derived triterpenoids and their glycosides are also extracted from the wood. The concentrations of these extractives is dependent on a number of factors, including the length of time the spirit is aged in cask, the temperature and humidity in the storage facility, whether the cask may have been used previously for the aging of spirits, whether the cask was toasted or charred on the interior surface, as well as the species of oak used to make the cask. This study evaluates the changes in composition among Armagnac and Cognac brandies of varying ages as well as among bourbon and Scotch whiskies of varying ages. These spirits were selected to represent examples of the major contributing factors outlined above. Bourbon whiskeys are aged in new charred casks made from American oak (primarily Quercus alba or similar), while the Scotch whiskies included in the study were aged in casks previously used for aging bourbon whiskey or in casks used previously aging Sherry; these casks are primarily made from Spanish oak (Quercus robur or others). Armagnac and Cognac brandies are typically aged in a combination of new and previously used casks produced from either local oak forests or from the nearby Limousin forest (Quercus robur or Quercus petraea); these casks are toasted rather than charred. The spirits included in this study ranged in age from 3 to 50 years. Analysis was conducted using an Agilent 1290 UHPLC/6545 QTOF-MS system; MS data was collected in both MS scan and a data dependent automated MS/MS mode. The impact of aging conditions for the various spirits on their non-volatile composition will be presented.

Differences in the non-volatile composition of younger and older Armagnac and Cognac brandies and bourbon and Scotch whiskies using UHPLC/QTOF-MS

252nd National Meeting (2016)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.