Re: appreciating an old whisky

In article <1139802519.651607.174520@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"treeline12345@xxxxxxxxx" <treeline12345@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:



It may not be fit to drink but it was sold and purchased, of that I am
sure, because I did buy it in the liquor stores and also did use it in
labs as 95% or 100%. If it were not fit to drink, why was it being sold
by the liquor stores as a consumable alcohol? As incompetent the state
stores are, I doubt they would sell benzene laced alcohol. Then again,
maybe they did, and that's why I don't see it any more.

In any case, 100% ethanol is 64-17-5 for the CAS and the MSDS does not
show any traces of benzene. I don't see why it could not be distilled
to 100% without benzene. Are you sure about this, for 100% ethanol,
they need to use benzene? Way too dangerous. Are you thinking maybe
acetone and not benzene?


Acetone doesn't sound any better to me.

As Bob posted, 190 proof, or 95% is an azeotrope of water and ethanol.
You cannot distill it any stronger than this. For a modern still set
for maximum purity, that's how it comes out. Anything less than 190
proof is made by diluting with distilled water.

Human beings need water to live. There's really no point in getting
that last 5% out.

In a lab, you may have occasional to use ethanol for something, and
water would make the reaction fail. So, you buy 100% ethanol. For some
of that stuff, the process makes it undrinkable. If that doesn't work,
there are other processes without that side effect. I'm sure that the
more processing you require, the more you pay.

Some states in the US allow the sale of 190 proof alcohol as a beverage,
and some don't. As far as I can tell, the prohibition of the sale of
190 alcohol is to keep you from getting drunk. Right.

--
Dan Abel
dabel@xxxxxxxxx
Petaluma, California, USA
.

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