20th Century – Column & Whisky
Being able to make cleaner whisky led to a Royal Commission on Whiskey and Other Potable Spirits in 1908-09 where it was decided that whisky made in modern stills was indeed still whisky.
Today this type of whisky is called grain whisky and the type of stills are normally referred to as column stills. Distilled to no more than 94.8% alcohol by volume grain whisky is lighter than malt whisky, normally distilled to between 65-72% abv but matures faster and is the core of any blended whisky on the shelf.
Distilled to 96% abv or thereabouts gins and aquavits also embraced the new method and began using neutral spirit. With a few exceptions, gins and aquavits are made from neutral spirit in which herbs and plants are either soaked, macerated or steamed.