Liquor

In accordance with the regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019,[6] a spirit drink is an alcoholic beverage that has been produced:

• either directly by using, individually or in combination, any of the following methods:

1. distillation, with or without added flavorings or flavoring foodstuffs, of fermented products;
2. maceration or similar processing of plant materials in ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, distillates of agricultural origin or spirit drinks or a combination thereof;
3. addition, individually or in combination, to ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, distillates of agricultural origin or spirit drinks of flavorings, colors, other authorised ingredients, sweetening products, other agricultural products, foodstuffs.

• or by adding, individually or in combination, to it any of the following:

1. other spirit drinks;
2. ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin;
3. distillates of agricultural origin;
4. other foodstuffs.

Spirit drinks must contain at least 15% alcohol by volume (except in the case of egg liqueur, which must contain a minimum of 14% ABV).[6][7]

Regulation makes a difference between "ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin" and "distillate of agricultural origin". Distillate of agricultural origin is defined as an alcoholic liquid which is the result of the distillation, after alcoholic fermentation, of agricultural products which does not have the properties of ethyl alcohol and which retains the aroma and taste of the raw materials used.[8]

Viru Valge, an Estonian vodka

Annex 1 to the regulation lists 44 categories of spirit drinks and their legal requirements.[9]

Some spirit drinks can fall into more than one category. Specific production requirements distinguish one category from another (London gin falls into Gin category but any gin cannot be considered as London gin).

Spirit drinks that are not produced within EU, such as Tequila or Baijiu, are not listed in the 44 categories.

Distillation equipment used by the 3rd century alchemist Zosimos of Panopolis,[10][11] from the Byzantine Greek manuscript Parisinus graecus 2327.[12]

Early evidence of distillation comes from Akkadian tablets dated c. 1200 BC describing perfumery operations, providing textual evidence that an early, primitive form of distillation was known to the Babylonians of ancient Mesopotamia.[13] Early evidence of distillation also comes from alchemists working in Alexandria, Roman Egypt, in the 1st century.[14] Distilled water was described in the 2nd century AD by Alexander of Aphrodisias.[15] Alchemists in Roman Egypt were using a distillation alembic or still device in the 3rd century.

Distillation was known in the ancient Indian subcontinent, evident from baked clay retorts and receivers found at Taxila and Charsadda in modern Pakistan, dating back to the early centuries of the Christian era. These "Gandhara stills" were capable of producing only very weak liquor, as there was no efficient means of collecting the vapors at low heat.[16]

Distillation in China could have begun during the Eastern Han dynasty (1st–2nd centuries), but the distillation of beverages began in the Jin (12th–13th centuries) and Southern Song (10th–13th centuries) dynasties according to archaeological evidence.[17]

Freeze distillation involves freezing the alcoholic beverage and then removing the ice. The freezing technique had limitations in geography and implementation limiting how widely this method was put to use.

An illustration of brewing and distilling industry methods in England, 1858

The inflammable nature of the exhalations of wine was already known to ancient natural philosophers such as Aristotle (384–322 BCE), Theophrastus (c. 371–287 BCE), and Pliny the Elder (23/24–79 CE).[18] This did not immediately lead to the isolation of alcohol, however, despite the development of more advanced distillation techniques in second- and third-century Roman Egypt.[19] An important recognition, first found in one of the writings attributed to Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (ninth century CE), was that by adding salt to boiling wine, which increases the wine's relative volatility, the flammability of the resulting vapors may be enhanced.[20] The distillation of wine is attested in Arabic works attributed to al-Kindī (c. 801–873 CE) and to al-Fārābī (c. 872–950), and in the 28th book of al-Zahrāwī's (Latin: Abulcasis, 936–1013) Kitāb al-Taṣrīf (later translated into Latin as Liber servatoris).[21] In the twelfth century, recipes for the production of aqua ardens ("burning water", i.e., alcohol) by distilling wine with salt started to appear in a number of Latin works, and by the end of the thirteenth century it had become a widely known substance among Western European chemists.[22] Its medicinal properties were studied by Arnald of Villanova (1240–1311 CE) and John of Rupescissa (c. 1310–1366), the latter of whom regarded it as a life-preserving substance able to prevent all diseases (the aqua vitae or "water of life", also called by John the quintessence of wine).[23]

In China, archaeological evidence indicates that the true distillation of alcohol began during the 12th century Jin or Southern Song dynasties.[17] A still has been found at an archaeological site in Qinglong, Hebei, dating to the 12th century.[17]

In India, the true distillation of alcohol was introduced from the Middle East, and was in wide use in the Delhi Sultanate by the 14th century.[16][24]

The works of Taddeo Alderotti (1223–1296) describe a method for concentrating alcohol involving repeated fractional distillation through a water-cooled still, by which an alcohol purity of 90% could be obtained.[25]

In 1437, "burned water" (brandy) was mentioned in the records of the County of Katzenelnbogen in Germany.[26]

It is legal to distill beverage alcohol as a hobby for personal use in some countries, including New Zealand[27] and the Netherlands.[note 1]

In the United States, it is illegal to distill beverage alcohol without a license. In some parts of the U.S., it is also illegal to sell a still without a license. Nonetheless, all states allow unlicensed individuals to make their own beer, and some also allow unlicensed individuals to make their own wine (although making beer and wine is also prohibited in some local jurisdictions).

Some countries and sub-national jurisdictions limit or prohibit the sale of certain very high-percentage alcohol, commonly known as neutral spirit.

Due to its flammability (see below) alcoholic beverages with alcohol content above 70% by volume are not permitted to be transported in aircraft.[28]

Microdistilling (also known as craft distilling) began to re-emerge as a trend in the United States following the microbrewing and craft beer movement in the last decades of the 20th century. In contrast, large-scale distillation facilities were never as dominant in Scotland, so the tradition of small-scale distillation was never really lost in the Scotch whisky market.

Distilled spirits contain ethyl alcohol, the same chemical that is present in beer and wine and as such, spirit consumption has short-term psychological and physiological effects on the user. Different concentrations of alcohol in the human body have different effects on a person. The effects of alcohol depend on the amount an individual has drunk, the percentage of alcohol in the spirits and the timespan that the consumption took place, the amount of food eaten and whether an individual has taken other prescription, over-the-counter or street drugs, among other factors.

Drinking enough to cause a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.03%-0.12% typically causes an overall improvement in mood and possible euphoria, increased self-confidence, and sociability, decreased anxiety, a flushed, red appearance in the face and impaired judgment and fine muscle coordination. A BAC of 0.09% to 0.25% causes lethargy, sedation, balance problems and blurred vision. A BAC from 0.18% to 0.30% causes profound confusion, impaired speech (e.g., slurred speech), staggering, dizziness and vomiting. A BAC from 0.25% to 0.40% causes stupor, unconsciousness, anterograde amnesia, vomiting, and respiratory depression (potentially life-threatening). Death may occur due to inhalation of vomit (pulmonary aspiration) while unconscious. A BAC from 0.35% to 0.80% causes a coma (unconsciousness), life-threatening respiratory depression and possibly fatal alcohol poisoning.

Heavy consumption of liquor leads to bloating, gassiness, diarrhea, painful stools, or fullness in the abdomen.[39] High quantity consumption of liquor increases cancer risk, namely head, neck, esophageal, liver, breast, and colorectal cancer.[40]

As with all alcoholic beverages, driving under the influence, operating an aircraft or heavy machinery increases the risk of an accident. As such, many countries have penalties for drunk driving.

The main active ingredient of distilled spirits is alcohol, and therefore, the health effects of alcohol apply to spirits. Drinking more than 1-2 drinks a day increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and stroke.[41] The risk is greater in younger people due to binge drinking, which may result in violence or accidents.[41] About 3.3 million deaths (5.9% of all deaths) are due to alcohol each year.[42] Unlike for wine and perhaps beer, there is no evidence for a J-shaped health effect for the consumption of distilled alcohol.[2]

Alcoholism, also known as "alcohol use disorder", is a broad term for any drinking of alcohol that results in problems.[43] Alcoholism reduces a person's life expectancy by around ten years[44] and alcohol use is the third-leading cause of early death in the United States.[41]

Consumption of distilled alcohol is the most important single factor behind variation on mortality rates and life expectancy for men in Europe. For example, in heavily Islamic regions of the Caucasus (Islam forbids alcohol consumption) the life expectancy gap between women and men is five years; in nearby Christian areas it is ten years, and in the Czech Republic (where beer predominates) the chance of a man dying between the ages of 15 and 60 is less than half that of nearby Ukraine.[2][45]