Exploring the Art of Pot Distillation

There are many different types of stills around the world. Large, oddly small, long-necked, multi-story, indirect or direct fired, and hybrid stills. However, one of the most important distinctions in the world of distillation equipment is between batch pot stills and continuous column stills. Let’s take a closer look at the numerous variants.

If you take a closer look at the processes involved in distillation, the first thing you will notice is that the process has changed very little over the centuries. Granted, some of the stills may seem much larger today compared to the 18th or 19th century, but essentially the business of producing whiskey remains as it has always been. The process of distillation involves transforming a moderately strong, unhopped beer into a fine brandy. This is done by heating the beer, liquefying the vapors, condensing them, and collecting them again to create a new make spirit. The system works because the components of the wash – including the good and bad, sometimes even toxic alcohols – have different boiling points. As each of them turns into vapor and rises the neck of the still, the still can collect those vapors after their condensation that intends to keep and discard the rest. Sounds like a tradition that has been tried and tested for centuries and is quite simple. But the secret, as so often, lies in the details. You can achieve this separation of good and bad, desired and undesirable, aromatic and malodorous odors and flavors in different ways, i.e., with various devices and formats. Depending on which distillation equipment you intend to use for distillation: a pot still, Coffey column still, or hybrid still. Each of the technologies mentioned here has different properties that can have a massive influence on the fine spirit. Let’s take a closer look at these marvels of technology.

Pot stills

Anyone who has ever visited a Scottish, Irish, or Japanese whiskey distillery knows the more or less large, usually polished, and therefore mostly shiny copper stills: the pot stills.

Malt whiskey and the traditional Irish whiskey – the Pure Pot Still – are generally distilled in them. Basically, this is a pot that is connected to a tube (neck) that becomes narrower towards the top and has a curve at the top – the swan neck – from which it then forms a likewise tapered pipe (lyne arm or lyne pipe) flows into some type of cooling unit. There are various forms of pot stills. Most are roughly onion-shaped (with or without a spherical top), some are lantern-shaped, and others are pear-shaped. The shape and size of a pot still have a decisive influence on the character of spirits. While the pot, i.e., the lower part of the still, essentially represents a container for the liquid to be distilled and leaves the resulting distillate largely unaffected, the upper area of the still – neck and head, the so-called reflux area – is the one that has a massive influence takes on the character of the fine brandy. Therefore, it seems only logical that every distillery has stills with identical shapes to get a fine spirit with the same properties repeatedly. Some distilleries have identical or at least very similarly shaped pot stills for the individual distillation processes, while others have a greater variety. It is this individual approach, specific to each distillery, that gives each single malt its character – its DNA. Therefore: “Never change a running system!” This means that no distiller would dare to play around with the design of the stills and change the unique character of their whiskey or even lose it forever. The original shape of a still may have come about by chance, but the coppersmith always recreates it true to the original when it needs to be replaced over the course of years of wear and tear.

The world of stills is a fascinating blend of tradition, innovation, and craftsmanship. From the gleaming pot stills of Scottish, Irish, and Japanese whiskey distilleries to the intricate details that shape the character of fine spirits, each variant of pot stills holds its own unique secrets. In the world of pot distillation, tradition meets innovation, and it’s a journey worth toasting. Cheers to the marvelous world of stills!