For example, I’ve heard bourbon is sweeter than other whiskies because it’s made from corn, rhum agricole is grassy because of sugarcane, and tequila is vegetal because of agave. What I understand is distillation concentrates alcohol because alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, so it’s heated and the vapor condenses on the other side. So how do flavors make it through? Also, aren’t sugars way bigger/heavier than alcohol and water? How do they make it all the way through?
In: Chemistry
Sugars don’t make it through because their boiling point isn’t in the right range. However, certain fermentation products have a sweet taste and have a boiling point closer to alcohol, which allows them to survive a round or two of distillation. This is true of other flavors as well.
As you distill more and more times, you get closer and closer to pure ethanol. This is why Everclear doesn’t taste sweet despite the fact that it is also made from corn, like bourbon.
However, most of the ‘sweet’ taste from bourbon comes from the barrel aging process. Bourbon, unlike other spirits, is generally aged in new charred white oak barrels. During aging, the ethanol and water in the bourbon extract flavor compounds from the oak, including some that make it taste ‘sweet’.
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