Josh Rubin
Feints and Spirits
The heart of any whisky is the spirit—the alcohol that gets placed into the casks to mature.
At Macallan the mash is distilled twice, creating foreshots (the first 5-10% of liquid captured), spirit, and feints (the majority of the liquid). The Macallan keeps a very small volume of the distillate—only that produced in the range of 68-74%.
The feints and foreshots are captured and distilled with a new batch of mash. Whatever is not used—the spent lees—are reclaimed and shipped to be made into fertilizer.
Feints and Spirits
The heart of any whisky is the spirit—the alcohol that gets placed into the casks to mature.
At Macallan the mash is distilled twice, creating foreshots (the first 5-10% of liquid captured), spirit, and feints (the majority of the liquid). The Macallan keeps a very small volume of the distillate—only that produced in the range of 68-74%.
The feints and foreshots are captured and distilled with a new batch of mash. Whatever is not used—the spent lees—are reclaimed and shipped to be made into fertilizer.