The Truth about Chill Filtration: What's the Big Deal?
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
- In this episode, we look at the controversial topic of non-chill-filtered whisky vs chill filtered whisky and why different distilleries take separate stances on this topic and what chill-filtration and unchillfiltered whisky actually is.
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You're a likeable presenter. I really appreciate what I am learning from you.
Thanks Douglas! Grateful to share the knowledge!
Hello from Boston (nobody is sweating here in January!). I discovered your channel after a mention by Rex on the Whiskey Tribe and really enjoy your videos. Stay cool and keep exploring the world of whiskey and sharing your knowledge.
Hi! Do you remember which video Rex gave the shout-out in? Cheers
So glad i found this channel!
Glad to have you watching!
In my personal experience, chill filtered whisky that has had the acids and proteins removed 100% has a different mouthfeel and doesn’t have as long of a finish on the pallete, I’m guessing this is because the oils and proteins in non chill filtered actually coat the mouth which gives you the longer finish.
Also, these masters of their craft have put years and years into this product and because some people don’t like the cloudiness that may result from lower temperatures the whole consumer base is forced to drink a lesser product, to drink something that is pure by itself but now has something removed.
Excellent presentation, answered all my questions.
Such great quality content, thank you! Cheers for whisky lovers around the world.
Ahhh!! Love the Garth Marenghi's Darkplace reference here haha
I tend to find more complexity with whiskies that are un-chill filtered, whether that's correlation or causation is yet to be seen. Great video!
Brilliant video! Was in Ohope on Tuesday, great place.
I like winter, but I live in Texas where its 40+c for half the year.
Haha, oh man I couldn't handle that!
Lol mate. Well I live in Los Angeles so we got summer weather most of the time. And thanks for the great video. I love the explanation.
Yeah I bet it’s hot there too! Thanks so much!
Irish Whisky which is triple distilled doesnt go cloudy in the 46% zone as I understand. The Caramel colouring in some whisky bugs me more.
South Africa, hot, prefer winter... At least you can keep warm in winter. Another great video Phil, your content is great! Beauty!
Agree completely Brent! Beauty!
Phil - the production quality of the opening is fantastic! Question - on the casks at the end of the opening, the heads list J&G Grant, Glenlivet and Glenfarclas. Can you talk about the history here. Their new heads clearly omit the Glenlivet. Curious people may want to know why....... Thanks!
Very well explained, thanks Phil.
Regarding temperature twenty is plenty for me, good job I live in Wales lol.
Thanks! Aha glad to hear it’s not just me. I must have welsh blood in me somewhere. I seem to nearly die at anything close to 30 😅😅😅
Good video, Phil! Thanks for that.
Your videos are always great but adding a clip of Garth Marenghi took it to a new level!
Ha glad you spotted him!
Excellent info 👍
Thanks Kapil!
Great video mate. Love it. Cheers.
Thanks mate!
A truly excellent channel
I'm a spring and fall person. Winter here is rainy and overcast for months on end. SAD. Summers are better, but still can be too hot, but the worst is wildfires that give the local airshed that 'peaty' aspect, lightly smoking the local residents.
Seeing how were using Celius, 10-15 is great for me. Thanks for explaining filtration differences, that is.
No problem! Thanks for watching!
You are awesome, mate!
Thank you for sharing your whisky knowledge - really appreciated and great video 👍🏻🥃 ps I’m a winter person
Cheers Matt! My dream is to own a winter cottage in the mountains and have a few drams by the fire while it snows outside. Perfect.
Hello from Germany!!!
I Like Whisky, i Like your Videos and since i visited New Zealand in 2017 i am a big Fan.
So could you make a Video about Whisky from New Zealand? I Heard about some New Destilleries.
Sorry about my Bad english, school ist Long ago.
Greetings
I would love to do a video on NZ whisky. We are in lockdown right now. But I’m keen to go visit a nz distillery as soon as I can
When you said, take your dram..... my Kilchoman Madeira make me "ojitos" (hard to traslate, but in simple words.... take me jajaja)
Kia Ora! I used to live in Auckland... man i miss new zealand... prolly the best place to be on earth right now in terms of healthy and safety. Am about to pour some Glenallachie now...Cheers buddy.
Yeah we are so lucky to be here right now. Great dram! Cheers! 🥃
Great topic! As per my understanding (and I may be wrong) this process is only required for spirits under 46%, because bellow that threshold its really when many components that were desolved in the alcohol at that strength became undesolvable and create a cloudy spirit and even sediment at the bottom..
Thanks for your contribution! Yeah, I was a little confused by the 46% cutoff. It was hard to find out exactly how it was related. That does make sense to me.
@@FirstPhilWhisky I believe I heard it on some whisky vault vídeo - just as footnote. Some whisky production processes are not very widly spread since the scotch whisky society works to keep them in the shadows for fair competition issues e. g. you can have on the lable "natural colour" but not inverse since is common pratice to add colouring for consistence botling. Some policies just don't make much sense. Cheers!
@@davidelourenco2537 @First Phil Whisky OK lets get a couple of things straight Daslo, first of all the Industry Body for Scotch Whisky is the Scotch Whisky Association not the Scotch Malt Whisky Society who are a private company who sell memberships and whisky and own a couple of sites in Edinburgh and one in London. Second the SWA rules on chill filtration are straight down the line and clear! If you reduce the temperature (even by a degree) and put the whisky through a filtration process its CHILL FILTERED, but you aren't under any obligation to state this on the label. If you put the whisky through the same filtration plant at AMBIENT temperature this is NOT regarded as chill filtering and you can if you wish call this spirit un or non chill filtered on the label, simply because you didn't reduce the temperature from ambient. The reason chill filtration is done is to prevent the haze floc forming when the whisky is chilled on opening. This is less likely to happen if the strength of the spirit is above 46%, and don't ask me about the science behind that, but its to do with certain molecules in whisky turning solid due to the temperature being reduced, therefor showing as a haze, or "Scotch Mist" as Ralfy calls it. Cheers guys!
@@benmarnoch4111 I know the science behind the process and since it strips the finished product of some of its natural properties and characteristics I would like to see it stated on the label (just like I would with addind E150A collourant or any other addictive or not natural presentation procedure). This is about consumer information. Cheers!
@@davidelourenco2537 totally agree Daslo, there should be transparency, and the drinker deserves to know if the whisky they have bought has been filtered or chill filtered or had E150A colouring added. Currently this information is left to the manufacturer to decide what goes on the label, and how transparent they want to be on these important factors.
Hello Phill, if you have a bottle like Aberlour A’bunadh that it is cask strength (60.7% ABV) and non-chill filtered, how you add water to reduce the strength? Would you drink it net?
Hi Jaime! There are two extremes when it comes to adding water. One side just adds it dropwise, the other side adds a lot more. The last bottle I had (must be Batch 53, I guess) worked just perfectly fine without any water. But please keep on playing with water. There are some cask strength gems out there, that really work well with water. If you are really into the game: there is a small company selling Scottish water from the spring. It’s called Uisge Source.
Tried tha A'bunadh (it was 61.5%, it varies from batch to batch)... realized I'm not quite ready yet. too much burn, even my eyes felt it. hahaha. At this point I'm more comfortable with their 12 yr NCF at 48%, it's just yum!
Two types of filtration for me, chilling the whisky to between -4 and plus 4 degrees and forcing it through 20 or 30 5 micron paper filter sheets in a filtration plant, which is chill filtration, but there is another type which is Identical but where the whisky is at ambient temperature, this officially is non chill filtered but to me should be called filtered. Anything else using just a barrier sieve which prevents visible particles only from being bottled is un chill filtered. This style is identifiable as you can get sediment in the bottle.
Interesting! Thanks Ben
No hope beach 😂😂 White Island on the horizon, lovely place! Very rarely buy a whisky 🥃 that has been chill filtered, so common now. Should we be thanking Ralfy and Roy? 😉😉
Ralfy and Roy both played a huge part in my education for this video. Such a nice beach!
That Glencadam is a cracking nice whisky. I WISH it was 29! was 35 at 9pm last night! Last couple of days were around 43, not much fun at all and it makes tasting a good whisky like drinking petrol.
😂😂😂. Are there any distilleries near you or are they all in Tasmania?
@@FirstPhilWhisky We have some Rum here and some whiskey one north and south of us
Great video Phil! A bit jealous of the summer weather, it’s a balmy -10 C here in the Great White North 🇨🇦 Definitely agree on not chill-filtering whisky 🥃
I've been doing this for a long time now, but I have never quite understood the 46% "cutoff". I drink a lot of non chill filtered whisky at 46 and well over, and they cloud up almost to a dram when I add water (which if I have a 58% Ledaig, for instance, I basically have to). Can you explain how being over or under 46 makes a difference with respect to scotch mist? Thanks - careful with that sunburn!
To be honest I was a little confused too and so didn't go into much more depth. I was getting differing views when researching for the topic. Would love to hear from anyone who knows the science behind the 46% cutoff.
@@FirstPhilWhisky Don't quote me on this, but the science is that, ABOVE 46% abv all whisky is clear; whether it is Non Chill Filtered OR Chill Filtered. ABOVE the 46% cutoff, dissolved fatty acids, esters and compounds stay in suspension. Most of the compounds FALL OUT of suspension when the alcohol gets BELOW 46% abv and hence creates that 'Scotch Mist'.
BUT ALSO, when you add water to high abv whiskys, the water breaks up the suspension because some of those compounds have a water-loving polar molecule and it reduces the abv as well.
So the 46% cutoff is like a minimum threshold for those compound to stay in transparent suspension in alcohol/water.
Chill Filtering is a way to prevent that from happening. As far as I know, anything below 46% is usually Chill Filtered as there would be no way to avoid it going cloudy. Above that, it's a matter of distiller's preference.
www.douglaslaing.com/latest/what-is-chill-filtration-and-why-does-it-matter/
@@PvtNuthead Yup ya hit it on the head, above 46% flocking will not occur and if you add water to a higher ABV whisky enough to drop below the threshold flocking can occur if it's a natural expression. We dived in the the science a bit on our filtration episode and showed the flocking in action.
Above 46% the alcohol content is so strong it shouldn't allow esters to cloud. Sometimes it still does though.
Comments for the SEO
Chur. Replying for the seo. 🥃
Is that " The Mount " I am looking at ?
Nah it’s Whale Island. Not far from the mount though!
Have you tried John Barr blended Scotch?
No I haven't. Is is good?
@@FirstPhilWhisky I think it’s excellent for its price ($25 or less here in the States). I’m curious what a more experienced whisky drinker takes away from it.
I prefer it over Monkey Shoulder as my go-to daily whisky.
It was 40 last week here 😂😂 As an ex-kiwi I got used to it pretty quickly
Ha it's hard to imagine. I feel like I would be a blob of sweat 😅😅😅
@@FirstPhilWhisky I loved the video Phil. I loved how you shoot your video outdoor. Rather than the whole video inside. It was really helpful & relaxing. Just subscribed to your channel.♥️
Thanks! I was wondering if people liked that format. Great to have you watching
Which Whisky(s) is (are) not Chill- filtered but doesn't state this?
Amrut was like this. But with their recent bottlings, they do now state it. Old bottlings they didn't state it though.
I’m a summer person from the beautiful island of St. Kitts 🇰🇳 but now live in North America 🇺🇸 and I HATE winter.
Wow just looked up that Island. It would be hard to hate summer living in a place like that for sure!
Filtering out enzymes from 46% alcohol... I doubt if there are any active enzymes in 46% alcohol. No way!
I couldn't care less if whisky is filtered, or artificially flavored. If I like it, I'll get it anyway. I just don't like when chips of wood are floating in my bottle, coz that happens more often than you might think. Even tho people say it's a good sign.
Are you part of the Sirius cybernetics corporation? Asking for a friend 😂😂😂?
For legit and die-hard single malt whisky drinkers, Chill filtration is a big issue but for the rest and casual sippers. it's not. A lot of seasoned veterans and big names in the world of whisky have proven that it affects the character and flavor of the spirit. I do believe that when you are paying more than $50 for a bottle of 10 or 12 years old single malt scotch. there shouldn't be chill filtration.
Great point. Totally agree.
Chill filtration only matter until you taste the whiskey... then it doesn't anymore.
Really tired of hearing chill filtered and un-chill filtered. I f a bottle of scotch cost $300. 00 and I like it I buy I could care less about chill or un-chilled filter.
True whisky is whisky without color, non-chill and above 40%. #keepwhiskynatural
Lower ABV = higher profits (water is cheaper than whiskey). No need to filter 46% and above, so apparently filtering and more water still equals more profits. For lower priced whiskeys 40% is understandable, but to pay a premium price for a 40% offering just says you are too stupid to realize or care that you are getting cheated.
Lol
29 isn’t hot bro
Too hot for me. Give me -10 and a good fire any day 😁😅
@@FirstPhilWhisky
How are you fellas going over there in NZ
I hear you guys have beaten Covid for now, we are in a similar situation in West Aussie.
Keep up the awesome videos
Yeah no community transmission is here. So life is definitely easier than it is for some of my mates overseas. Grateful to be here in that sense. Thanks bro!
Love this channel but sorry you are contributing to the misinformation.
Studies using blind tasting of the same whisky with a chill filtered and non-chill filtered version showed that even experienced whisky drinkers can not tell which is which and show no preference for one or the other.
The distilleries are well aware of this but use the non-chill filtered thing as a marketing ploy to sell whisky at a higher price, while appealing to more experienced whisky drinkers with the promise of a more "natural" or "authentic" product.
If you really think about it, it doesn't make any sense for distilleries to actually reduce the flavor of their whisky AND add an expensive processing step to their production for no reason. While on the other hand it makes perfect sense for artisan distilleries to promote the idea that chill filtering is the devil and we should abolish it in order to cut their production cost and justify their higher prices.
I do think most whiskies that choose not to chill filter their whisky do truly make higher quality whisky, but it is not the lack of chill filtration that makes them better.
So I think this puritan attitude toward whisky production so strongly advocated by Ralfy and then propagated by his fans (yourself included) needs to stop.
Don't let some irrational belief stop you from enjoying ALL good whisky, chill filtered or not!