Hemi-Cellulose and Cellulose And Bourbon

HEMI-CELLULOSE and Cellulose:

Remember those words from school? What a nightmare. Now it has to do with your alcohol so let’s break it down.

Hemi-Cellulose and Cellulose: are sugar compounds found all over the place, but we are talking about oak used in barrels.

Hemi-Cellulose and Cellulose love fire, changing their makeup as they are heated and letting loose from the sugars contained within the wood.

We move on to the interaction between your bourbon and the wooden cask.

Alcohol, the essence of your spirit, is a solvent, as you probably know from floor cleaners and other cleaning agents,

The sugar, with time, will get dissolved within the alcohol. This may be a good thing; however, as the alcohol dissolves the sugar, it progressively works towards the outer parts of the barrel to oak that’s not been charred. This is not a good thing, for it is now giving your bourbon an “oaky taste.”

Now I will leave you off with a simple question after reading this article: Can you guess why Terebelo Distillery only plays classical music?

Binyomin Terebelo

I love hearing from you about why you love something I wrote or published or a recipe I don’t know. I am Master Distiller at Terebelo Distillery, Love all things alcohol. Freelance for Grogmag and blog recipes for buildthebottle.com Weekend Rabbi too.