Glycerine?

[Guest Liberty Bar - Seattle]

I have a glass of Luksusowa in front of me, and in tasting it I can swear that there is that sweet/'buttery' sensation that often happens in vodkas that purportedly/maybe use glycerine.

What's the story with that? I have looked all over the web for some kind of interesting story on the use of glycerine in spirits, but I can't find anything at all.

Anyone here want to chime in on this one?

And, what amounts necessitate having to file a recipe with the Feds? Would there even be enough in a given bottle to necessitate that?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks in advance.

(Now that I have discussed the eeevil vodka and to preserve my imagined liquor cred, I'm going to point out that besides that aforementioned vodka, I have a dram of a surprisingly outstanding Nikka Yoichi 10yr dram sitting in front of me...)

[grehorst]

The TTB allows a maximum of .2% by volume sugar (I believe glycerin is classified as a sugar by the FDA) and .1% by volume citric acid to be added to Vodka. As long as it's within these amounts no label mention is needed, but a formula submission would be.

The purpose of it's use in vodka is to smooth out a rough spirit- something that can be done by careful distillation and filtration. Not to sound too snotty, but we prefer to go the careful distillation/filtering route to make our product smooth, and use no additives. I'm guessing most craft distillers do it this way but I supose it's possible some may use additives.

[Denver Distiller]

Some distillers out that way will use glycerine or other compunds as a means of ID. Counterfeit spirits are a problem in that part of the world.

[Odyssey Spirits]

Some distillers out that way will use glycerine or other compunds as a means of ID. Counterfeit spirits are a problem in that part of the world.

Denver Distiller ~ can you please elaborate on what you mean by "a means of ID"?

[Denver Distiller]

Ah, yes, my apologies for being unclear, and for going off on a bit of a tangent.

Counterfeit vodka was/is a bit of problem in the dissolved USSR....in other words, like Ping clubs that were faked by Chinese producers, organized crime was counterfeiting the bottles, and filling them with garbage. Major vodka producers started adding some compounds that would clearly identify their vodkas under GC analysis in a consistent manner. Some common congeners that appear in even the most consistent vodka brands will fluctuate within a range. But putting specific ppms of x compound after distillation will give a repeatable result under GC. It's bit like throwing a fingerprint into a bottle.

Scotch is having the same problems with counterfeit bottles in the marketplace.

Example of seized shipment of fake Stoli