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MANUFACTURING AND
ADULTERATU~'G
LIQUORS.
3
fuses over, after the stronger spirit has been drawn·
off, and the receiver changed. It is used for com–
mon drink, or mixed with other brandy.
The
~'
ea;u
de
vie
a
prewve d'Hollande"
is
of the
specific gravity 9.420, the common strength at which
it is retailed in France.
The "
eau
de
vie
a
preui:e d'lmil6"
is the strongest
brandy usually drank. Its specific gravity is 0.918.
The
"eau
de
vief&rf'
is
usually the distillation
of common brandy, keeping the first portion sepa–
rate. It answers to our spirits of wine. It is of dif–
ferent strengths,
dis~nguished
by names exhibiting
the quantity
of
water required to reduce the sam–
ple to the
"prewve d'Hollande."
Specific gravity
0.839.
The "
esprit
de
vie"
is brandy or spirits rectified
at 0.890 and upwards.
The general principles of distillation in France
do not differ materially from the method in use
here, in the distillation of grain or molasses. The
material used being superior, produces a superior
quality of spirits. The quality of brandy varies with
that of the wine from which it is distilled. The
soil, climate, and the different variety of the grape,
possesses some peculiarity confined to itself; and
this wine when distilled p:roduces a spirit possessing
like distinctions. It is a general rule in France
to
Digitized
by