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How is it that when Jack Daniels is passed through activated charcoal the whisky acquires its smoky flavour but when vodka is filtered through activated charcoal to remove impurities it does not capture any smoky flavours> It is the contact time or/and the depth of the charcoal filter that the spirit moves through?
Also, since vodka is so highly rectified (by distillation) what impurities remain to be filtered out anyways?
Thanks
@Sanjit_Keskar
I have never heard that charcoal filtration gives any taste to a spirit/whisky it just removes impurities.
@bedlamborn possibly it depends on the charting level of the barrels. The rum Zacapa Edicion Negra also claimed that their heavily charred casks imparted a smoky flavour to the rum.
@Sanjit_Keskar Jack Daniel does NOT produce smoky whiskey. Filtering thru charcoal will reduce sharp tastes from a whiskey. If you burn casks from the inside to produce an inner charcoal layer, then there will be a boundary zone between full charcoal and just tempered wood, which will result in some smoky aroma.
Thank you
It seems i got my base fact wrong. there is no smokiness in Jack Daniels
@horst_s Is a whiskey with a “smoky aroma” not a “smoky whiskey?” Certainly, filtration does not produce a smoky aroma. But if/since aging in a chard cask adds a smoky aroma, can it accurately be said that “Jack Daniels does not produce smoky whiskey?”