Learn why distillers separate fractions by boiling point, how copper strips out sulfur along the way, and what separates low wine from high wine.

Describe a key feature that sets you apart, solves a problem, or adds value to your users.

Learn how char levels, the red layer, and warehouse placement drive up to 70% of a whiskey's final flavor, and why the angel's share is a feature, not a flaw.

About the course

This module covers the two stages where whiskey truly becomes whiskey: distillation and maturation. You'll learn how column and pot stills work, why the heads, hearts, and tails are separated, and what happens chemically as new make whiskey enters a new, charred oak barrel. You'll dig into wood biology, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and tannins, and how char levels and warehouse placement create flavor compounds like vanillin and guaiacol. This is a standalone module, it does not include the Level One exam or certification, which are only awarded with the complete 10-module program.

Your Instructor: Susan Reigler

Susan Reigler wrote the book on American whiskey. Eight of them, actually. She's the author or co-author of eight books on bourbon and American spirits, an adjunct professor of Beer & Spirits at Eastern Kentucky University, and a working spirits judge, which means she's spent decades doing exactly what this course teaches you to do, at a level most drinkers never reach. She's judged whiskeys against each other by the hundreds, trained hospitality students on the science behind every barrel, and turned some of the industry's driest regulations into stories people actually remember. That's the instructor behind every module in American Whiskey Scholar: someone who has done the tasting, read the fine print, and can tell you, precisely, why your glass tastes the way it does.

Curriculum

1 Chapter · 13 Lessons

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Welcome to Distillation & Maturation

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      I. Distillation

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      I. Distillation - The Column Still

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      I. Distillation - Bubble Cap Trays

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      I. Distillation - The Pot Still

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      II. Maturation

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      II. Maturation - Seasoning and Cooking the Barrel

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      II. Maturation - Warehouse Environment and The Angel’s Share

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      Distillation & Maturation

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      III. Glossary of Key Terms

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      Quiz

    12. (Included in full purchase)

      IV. Review

    13. (Included in full purchase)

      V. Recommended Reading

See what's really happening inside the barrel.

Enroll in Distillation & Maturation and learn the science behind aging.

$49.00

Enroll now