I have been reading a bit aout the distillation process, used to produce fine liquors. I have read that many distillers actually triple distill their liquors. My question: what types of chemicals pass through such processing? Is there any flavorings that survive this? Or, does most of the flavor originate in the barrels that liquors are aged in? I would think that triple-distilled cognac would be (essentially) pure alcohol and water, with a few aromatic hydrocarbons thrown in. So, could you make good quality liquors with a chaep starting point (like alcohol made from sugar cane or molasses)? Or do you actually have to make the alcohol from wine, to have cognac?
Well, technically, pure ethyl alcohol is the same whatever it’s distilled from. So I guess it’s part of the distillers art to let the right impurities stay in the licquor. And yes, the post distillation steps are extremely important to the characteristics of the hooch. Charcoal filtering, storage in barrels that breathe and flex with the temperature, and whatever flavorings are added after distillation really do create the unique qualities of each licquor.
To have cognac,a type of brandy, you must have distilled the spirit from wine in the Cognac region of France. Here is more on that. As Hypno-Toad mentioned, the different process play huge roles in flavor, color, and alcohol content. Wiki’s article on distillation is a great place to start from. You’ll find yourself clicking off to different articles from there. Plus, once you got the gist down, you can impress your friends with the knowledge.
Actually, This wiki article on distilled beverages is probably a little closer to what you need than the first one which is quite involved.