Is there a scientifically detectable difference between high-price liquor and regular stuff?

The Straight Dope ^ | January 3, 2014 | Cecil Adams

[Slings and Arrows]

Dear Cecil:

I was in the Costco liquor section when I happened upon a locked display case with three bottles inside (one whisky, one cognac, one I can’t remember), each priced upwards of $2,500. I imagine anyone who bought and drank one of these would be heavily influenced by "buyer's bias" regarding the actual taste of the product; still, I’d think the difference would be great enough that an average, uneducated drinker could pick out the ultra-expensive bottle from a $30 one in a blind test. What can science tell us about why an extremely high-quality and typically older alcohol would be so much more pleasant to drink, and thus much more valuable?

— Morton Christopher

Cecil replies:

Science can tell us plenty about booze, Mort. However, the relevant discipline shifts as we rise in the price scale. At the low end, where we’re talking about beverages commonly drunk from paper bags, chemistry can easily demonstrate what separates rotgut from the decent stuff. Above a certain point, however, we find more useful insight in psychology, if you take my meaning. The question is where that shift occurs. In bitter moments I tend to say it’s around ten bucks a bottle, although having had a tasty if somewhat pricey Chateauneuf-du-Pape the other night I can see where you might objectively demonstrate that $100 was money well spent. But $2,500? Sorry, this is prima facie evidence of the madness of crowds.

With the exception of pure ethanol, alcoholic beverages are complex mixtures of chemicals derived from the raw materials plus the containers they’re aged and stored in. Variations in taste generally arise from differences in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which readily vaporize at room temp when the container is opened and give the brew, vintage, or what have you its characteristic smell — not the common term, particularly among wine enthusiasts, but let’s call a spade a spade.

The VOCs potentially found in alcoholic beverages make for a long list. Most of the terms mean nothing to the nonspecialist, but since you asked, here are some things you might detect if your man cave is equipped with a mass spectrometer:

• Proanthocyanidins, tannin colloids, and flavan-3-ols all contribute bitterness and astringency to wine.
• “Nuttiness,” considered a desirable quality in Scotch whisky, can often be traced to the presence of pyrazine compounds, whereas 2-furanmethanol imparts an aroma variously reminiscent of popcorn, earth, and feet.
• Phenols contribute peatiness to Scotch, and Scotches made from malt smoked over peat fires acquire phenolic traits so distinctive chemists can sometimes identify the original peat bog. When researchers analyzed 1890s Scotch recovered a few years ago from Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic camp, its phenol profile was correctly traced to a bog in the Orkney Islands.

Still, while we know in a general way which VOCs are associated with what taste, that’s a long way from saying we can detail with any confidence the chemical differences separating an award-winning beverage from an OK one.

In many cases these differences are minute. For example, the subtle taste of “greenness” in a Sauvignon Blanc, an undesirable quality in other varieties of wine, arises from methoxypyrazine compounds, detectable by humans in the parts per trillion. It’s surely also true that taste is a result of the interplay between multiple VOCs, some of which chemists have yet to identify. The best means of judging quality, therefore, remains the human nose and palate.

These make for an imperfect instrument. Nowhere is this more evident than in the world of wine tasting:

• In 2005 judges at the California State Fair Wine Competition were unknowingly served certain wines three different times on different days. Individual tasters‘ scores for the same wine varied widely, in some cases from 87 points (nothing special) to 95 (primo).
• In a blind tasting, 54 students in the wine program at the University of Bordeaux were tricked into perceiving a white wine as a red simply by adding food coloring to it.
• Con man Rudy Kurniawan fooled wine experts from around the world with his counterfeits of rare wines made with cheap Napa Valley product and photocopied labels. He was finally tripped up when he tried to auction faux vintages dated decades before the wine in question was ever actually produced.

Does that mean alleged differences in alcoholic beverages are BS? Depends on what you consider differences. When nonprofessional tasters were trained to use a standardized whisky-tasting vocabulary and then given samples of 40 blended Scotch whiskies, their assessments generally corresponded with the four categories of whisky being tested (deluxe, standard, cheap, and West Highland). In a separate study, the four categories were themselves found to have distinctive chemical signatures. In other words, it was possible to sense broad variations in quality, and those variations had a chemical basis.

On the other hand, consistently distinguishing a presumably exquisite $2,500 bottle from a merely excellent $100 one … eh, maybe somebody with an unusually sensitive palate could do it. You or me? That I doubt.

— Cecil Adams

[knarf]

Just remembered ... Popcorn !

[ApplegateRanch]

There is when I make it, versus buy it.

Doesn’t even take analytical equipment to tell them apart; just pouring through a coffee filter, then sniffing will tell the tale.

Somewhere, I have a 30 year old jug of apricot wine. First five years, it tasted like raw gasoline. A few years later, it had mellowed to #2 diesel, sitting in the tank 6 months.

Last time I checked, about 10 years ago, it could pass for mild kerosene, with a hint of fruit-flavored lamp-oil.

[JoeProBono]

Popcorn Sutton was well known throughout the South and the world for making the best damn “likker” anyone had ever tasted.

[Bobalu]

Old WalMart

[Slings and Arrows]

Mmmm, petroleum products.

[wardaddy]

There is a taste difference for sure but bargains to be had

I think Evan Williams tastes great for the money....my pistol packing Mississippi ginger granny drank it...nightly in her knock you dead toddies

Sobieski vodka too....plain Pinnacle as well

Cognac Chatelier VSOP....only 18 bucks....amazing value

Piper Heidsieck Monopole brut champagne....top shelf...30 bucks..half that of Vieve Cliquot

Cazadores tequila....not cheap but as good as 100 dollar a bottle stuff

Red wines....Mascarelli...cheap but good

Villa Puccini gold label ditto

Fred McMurray pinot...yep that Fred

Barbancourt black star rum.....as good as those twice the price......rhum Martinique...white...raw....dirt cheap...great stuff.......pampero anniversaro..20 bucks and worth twice that....brandy style rum

Sam Adams lager...excellent beer...PC douchebag owners

Lots a bargains in booze...I buy a lot and pay attention

Meomi pinot.....AtoZ pinot.....

Early times whiskey....dewars scotch....beefeaters gin

All Better than their price.... my opinion

I don’t drink anything but shine.....that’s it....apple pie shine made a few miles from my TN home...untaxed....cut down to 120 proof.or so.....just a few shots....goes down like sauterne but aint cheap....20/quart.....ball or mason jar...its addictive....like dope

Damn that Lawless movie....

[RegulatorCountry]

There's a big difference between cheap vodka and filtered vodka, both the flavor and the next day aftereffects. Least expensive “clean” filtered vodkas would be Absolut, Pinnacle, Svedka, maybe Sky. Not going to be nearly as smooth as Grey Goose, Belvidere or more expensive boutique vodkas, but passable. There's one from Texas, I forget the name but it's distilled in Austin, that is a comparative bargain among the better vodkas, too. Scotch just about has to be single malt, very few blends that are decent, maybe Pinch. An affordable decent single malts is Glenlivet or Glenfiddich and it goes up from there.

[JoeProBono]

“Does filtering cheap vodka through a Brita filter really work?”

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/474541

[RegulatorCountry]

Sobieski is mentioned in the comments and mentioned here, too. I don’t drink much anymore but I’ll have a vodka tonic with lime every now and then, I’ll have to try it if it’s even available in the state run liquor stores here.

[AlexW]

As noted here, discussions about the best beer or liquor are mostly ego trips by those trying to outdo the others with exotic brands. I have had good and very good, but who can judge someone’s taste?
I drink a lot of wine, but I am happy with my one ltr. red wines that come from Spain. They come in a sealed box, and cost only 140 pesos, a little over three bucks. Even better, I can carry 20 ltrs with no problem. For hard stuff, I like a lite Scotch over ice, but I buy cheap brands. I do not need Lafleur. I am drinking a San Miguel beer as I type this, but I have some delightful Carlo Rossi California red to have with dinner.... Yes, I can see the expressions on many faces here, haha.

[driftdiver]

Depends on if you are drinking to get drunk or to enjoy.

[verga]

I can’t believe I just spent about 45 minutes reading this link. Great information on it.

[JoeProBono]

;-{)

[markomalley]

I can definitely tell the difference between a bottle of this:

and this:

[knarf]

And as staunch an anti-reven-oo-er as ever was.

There's a youtube about him .. (you'll need an hour and a half ... WELL worth it!) that follows his last brew from start to finish.

Would'a LOVED him to be a neighbor and friend

[JoeProBono]

[verga]

Absolutely, blindfolded with a stuffed up nose and after eating a dill pickle. Makers is one of the best.

[The Great RJ]

While I mostly agree with the article, the difference between vodkas has become blurred in recent years. Vodka is mostly 40% ethyl alcohol and 60% water, but there are very small quantities of other organic compounds that can carry over in distillation. These compounds can give vodka a harsh taste. Some vodka makers have moved from traditional pot stills to column distillation ... look for distilled three, four or even five times on the label. These multi distilled vodkas have a higher degree of purity and often lack the harsh taste that can be found in similarly low priced vodkas. Some vodka purists claim this multi distillation removes the subtle flavors of vodkas, but I believe most people would not notice.

An exception is Tito's vodka (made in Austin, TX) which is still made with a pot still, but has a quality that rivals or exceeds imported Grey Goose at about half the price. I have also recently discovered Mark One vodka which I find exceptionally smooth despite its bargain price.

Over the recent holidays my brother-in-law brought a bottle of bargain vodka made by a well recognized gin maker. That vodka had a harshness that reminded me of drinking gasoline and not even spicy Bloody Mary mix could mask the terrible taste. I was forced to make a Christmas eve trip to the local wine & spirits store to get a vodka that was drinkable in my holiday Bloody Mary.

[djf]

I’ve also heard that the what is it?, Kirkland vodka from Costco is almost exactly the same as Grey Goose...

Personally, I judge a spirit by more than just taste. One of my main considerations is “Am I gonna feel like crap for two days?”

Different booze, different hangovers.

[Gefn]

I suppose if you are an oenophile you could tell the difference. I’ve met many in my life who could.

As for me, I can’t tell the difference with wine. So I buy Two Buck Chuck. I really do like it.