Chill filtering
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (March 2022) |
Chill filtering is a method in whisky making for removing residue. In chill filtering, whisky is cooled to between 5–10 °C (41–50 °F) and passed through a fine adsorption filter. This is done mostly for cosmetic reasons — to remove cloudiness — however by many whisky drinkers it is thought to impair the taste by removing the details which differentiate between the many distilleries.
Method
Chill filtering prevents the whisky from becoming hazy when in the bottle, when served, when chilled, or when water or ice is added, as well as precluding sedimentation from occurring in the bottles. It works by reducing the temperature sufficiently so that some
Factors affecting the chill filtering process include the temperature, number of filters used, and speed at which the whisky is passed through the filters. The slower the process and the more filters used, the more of the distillates will be collected, but at increasing cost.
This process generally impacts the taste of the whisky, by for example, removing peat particles that contribute to the complexity, subtlety and smokiness of the flavour [
Chemistry
Unfiltered whiskies chilled below a certain temperature can force some fatty acid esters out of suspension. In Scotch whisky these are usually agglomerations of
References
- ^ ISBN 9783030137328.