What Defines a Spirit
All the spirits that are consumed today go through very different manufacturing processes. Different mashes that the yeast produce the alcohol from, distilling techniques, and how the spirit is finished can drastically change the flavor or the character of the product. For some spirits, the process is very specific and needs to be followed in order to define something as that type of alcohol. Some of the more common spirits - Rum, Vodka, Gin, and Whiskey - have similar guidelines that define its process.
Rum: To be classified as a rum, the substrate of the fermentation needs to be from sugarcane or molasses. Here at St Johnsbury distillery we use both molasses and sugarcane. The molasses base is used for our Brendan’s Spiced Rum and blended with sugarcane in our Backwoods Reserve Rum. The sugarcane base is the basis for all of our other rum products. For a true and clean flavor profile we suggest sampling our triple distilled Pirate Dan’s Vermont Rum.
Vodka: Vodka is a clear, odorless, and tasteless spirit that is distilled from an agricultural product with fermentable sugars. As long as the proof is 190 and above during the distillation, it classifies as vodka. The vodka we distill here is fermented from 100% pure Vermont maple syrup that is then distilled four times.
Gin: A clear spirit that is distilled using juniper berries. It can be distilled from vodka, whiskey, or rum. Although vodka is usually the most popular choice for a Gin base, we at St. Johnsbury Distillery use our Rum distilled from sugarcane. A traditional dry gin is a method of distilling where the botanicals are in the still during distillation, rather than being flavored or steeped afterwards. For example, our St. Johnsbury Gin is a traditional dry gin because we add all the botanicals to the pot and column for a vapor distillation.
Whiskey: A type of alcohol that is distilled from a grain fermentation. It comes off the still as a clear spirit and picks up its color from the barrel aging process. There are seven different types of whiskey – Scotch, Tennessee, Bourbon, Rye, Canadian, Japanese, and Irish.
