Differences between real whiskey and fake. Counterfeit whiskey: how to distinguish a fake from the original

The undoubted leader in the export of whiskey is the United Kingdom, followed by Canada and the United States, Ireland is in fourth place, and Japan closes the top five largest producers. And while the Irish are arguing with the Scots about the primacy of the invention of whiskey, illegal manufacturers and smugglers flood the market with low-quality fakes. Let's get acquainted with the tips of the "experienced" how to distinguish a fake from the original whiskey.

Is there bad whiskey?

• Composition. Information about the composition of an alcoholic beverage can help distinguish whiskey from a fake. The label should state that the whiskey is made from natural spirits. Noble whiskey does not contain artificial alcohols (ethanol), dyes, flavors, fragrances. Real whiskey is created by distillation, using barley malt or cereals (corn, rye, wheat) as raw materials.
• Colour. You can distinguish an original whiskey from a fake by carefully examining the contents of the bottle. Whiskey color varies from light yellow to golden brown. At the distilleries, the distillate is poured into oak barrels from port, sherry or Madeira, which gives the whiskey a special shade. The original whiskey should not be cloudy, have sediment at the bottom of the bottle.
• Fortress. When buying, pay attention to the indicated whiskey strength, this information can help distinguish a fake from the original whiskey. The alcohol content can vary from 32% to 43% for ready-to-drink whiskey. If you see the inscription “sask strength” on the bottle, which means barrel-strength whiskey, then the alcohol content can reach 65%. Experts advise to conduct a simple shaking test: real whiskey differs from a fake in the size of the bubbles (they should be large and not disappear immediately). If the bottle is turned upside down, then high-quality whiskey will flow down the walls of the bottle in large drops for a long time, the “singed” drink will behave like tinted water.
• Organoleptic properties. Distinguishing whiskey from a fake is not so difficult if you taste the drink without haste. Uncork the bottle and pour the drink into a glass. Inhale the aroma, which should resemble smoky notes of oak, meadow flowers, fruits and vanilla. "Singed" whiskey will smell strongly of alcohol. Noble whiskey will leave a rich pleasant aftertaste. A fake will burn with alcohol with an unpleasant aftertaste.
• Point of sale. It is safest to buy alcoholic beverages, including whiskey, in specialized stores. These points of sale value their reputation. The maximum risks of buying “singed” whiskey under the guise of the original are buying in an online store. Anti-counterfeiting experts recommend in this case ordering alcohol with cash on delivery. At home, you can carefully examine the goods and, using our advice, distinguish the original whiskey from a fake. In this case, you save your money and refuse the delivered goods.
• Bottle. A bottle of good whiskey will not allow itself to appear before the consumer with a crookedly pasted label, blurry letters and no excise stamp. Before buying, refer to the official website of the manufacturer, study the features of the bottle, corks, labels, the presence of engravings or protruding patterns on the glass. Remember the formats that the legal manufacturer produces. Armed with this information, you will be able to pass the whiskey buying exam with flying colours.

Coded Whiskey

Whiskey is a democratic drink: it is equally loved by the oligarchs and the poor, the cowboys of the Wild West and secret agents, intellectuals and American farmers. The proverb says that there is no person who does not like whiskey, he just has not yet found his kind of this drink. Indeed, the world was conquered by well-known brands, each of which has its own character: Jack Daniels, Johnnie Walker Black Label, Ballantine's, Jameson, Chivas Regal" (Chivas Regal). How not to get lost in this variety and distinguish real whiskey from a fake?

There is a technology that allows you to determine "scorched" alcohol in a matter of minutes. This technology is called the DAT brand control system. Conscientious producers of strong drinks already label their products with unique codes (the list of brands can be found here). After payment, it is enough to send the code indicated on the bottle via SMS or check it yourself on the Internet on the website of the brand control system. The answer comes instantly. If you want your favorite whiskey to have an interactive counterfeit protection (unique code), write a letter to the manufacturer. The offer letter template can be downloaded from the DAT Brand Control System website.

Counterfeit whiskey is fraught with mortal danger, so it should not be purchased and consumed under any circumstances. There are a number of signs by which it is easy to determine the authenticity of the drink. Before buying, you should carefully examine not only the bottle and label, but also the liquid itself.

1

How to distinguish a fake? When buying, pay attention to certain features of the product. Of considerable importance is the cost and place of purchase of the product. The original product must be bought exclusively in specialized places where alcoholic products are sold.

It's good if the label says Premium, Deluxe. This fact signals the elitism of the drink. For complete safety, a sales representative should be asked for a quality certificate: it should be provided at the first request of the client.

Whiskey Quality Certificate

A good advantage of specialized shops with alcoholic beverages is the help of a consultant in choosing the right product. Using his services, you can save a lot of time, as it is enough to voice the appropriate cost and wishes regarding quality. The store employee will pick up the corresponding copies quickly.

In the absence of the opportunity to go to a specialized store, it is best to buy whiskey in a large shopping center. Beware of fakes, you can not go for a drink in kiosks and other small retail outlets. According to experts, it is necessary to buy whiskey in a store whose products are time-tested, and the products suit the taste and quality.

It will also be possible to recognize a surrogate by cost. When in a particular store a certain brand of whiskey is sold at a lower price than others, it is better not to risk your health. It is likely that this is a fake, since such savings do not justify themselves at all.

It is important to know!

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2

Often, when making a counterfeit product, the manufacturer decides to save on the bottle, guided by the inexperience of the consumer and the low cost of the product. The appearance of the packaging will tell a lot, for example, an incorrectly glued label indicates a fake, it may be of poor quality. Having chosen a suitable brand of drink, before making a purchase, you should go to the manufacturer's website and familiarize yourself with the means of protecting the bottle, its appearance.

bottle protector

The consumer should immediately be alert if there is no excise stamp: this is the first sign of a fake or illegal entry of goods into the country.

You cannot buy such a drink, as there is no guarantee of its quality.

3

You should always pay attention to the color of the product. Quality whiskey is characterized by transparency, which is an indicator of pure water. This is also a guarantee of full compliance with the technological process. Unlike a fake, real whiskey is free from sediment, it is not cloudy. Its hue can range from light yellow to deep yellow, sometimes reaching a brown tint. It all depends on the recipe, exposure.

It will be possible to determine the original using one simple method: you need to shake the bottle thoroughly and look at the bubbles that have formed. Their size must be large, and they must be preserved for a long time. In a natural drink, drops flow down the walls of the vessel slowly after shaking, which cannot be said about a fake copy.

Determination of the naturalness of an alcoholic beverage

When the bottle is opened, the aroma of malt should come from the drink, with a slight hint of oak. If there is a strong smell of alcohol, then the quality should be doubted. It leaves a long, very pleasant aftertaste in the mouth.

Malt is used to make a good finished product, but ethanol and methanol are often found in cheap scotch and bourbons. It should be borne in mind that whiskey made from the by-products of alcohol production will never have a decent taste.

4

In England and other European countries, making counterfeit Scotch whiskey is a serious crime. If whiskey is not distilled according to technology or contains alternative components, then it is very dangerous to use it for health. If a person drinks a small amount of a drink containing methanol, he has abdominal pain, there are malfunctions in the digestive system and organs of vision.

With the abuse of fake whiskey after a short time, there is a high level of risk of ill health. The most terrible diagnosis is cirrhosis of the liver. In the body, there is a restriction of blood flow through this organ, the liver will become unable to destroy toxic substances, control blood clotting.

Misuse of counterfeit alcohol

It should be noted that in natural whiskey there is a very high level of strength, but there is no need to talk about a fake. The minimum is 40%. Even if you drink a quality drink in large volumes, you can get poisoned. When an excessively high level of alcohol concentration is reached in the blood, breathing problems are observed, vomiting occurs, and palpitations occur.

Attention should also be paid to the fact that the uncontrolled use of whiskey causes the disappearance of the line of permissibility. Strong intoxication leads to risky actions, drunk driving and other manifestations of aggression and agitation. Deadly consequences often occur if there is no feeling of fear.

Many characteristics can indicate a fake, so the choice of a drink must be approached responsibly so as not to regret the consequences later. True gourmets and whiskey connoisseurs prefer only natural products, imitation products are created for people who want to know the approximate taste of whiskey.

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The victims in Krasnoyarsk were not poisoned by singed vodka, not at all - people bought a more expensive drink, Jack Daniel's American whiskey. The examination found that the alcohol contained deadly methyl alcohol.

And here we are no longer dealing with an ordinary fake, not with the issuance of cheaper alcohol instead of a branded branded drink, but with bottles where low-quality alcohol was poured, possibly made in artisanal conditions.

Where does methyl alcohol come from in alcohol?

Methyl alcohol is found in almost all strong alcoholic drinks. But it is contained in them in very small quantities - from 100 to 300 milligrams of methanol per liter. But this dose can be exceeded if the strong drink is distilled at home.

Also, methanol can be added to alcoholic beverages to increase their strength and "pick". And this is much more dangerous than unscrupulous and illegal distillation of alcohol, since the concentration of methanol in the bottle is greatly increased.

How to tell if there is methanol in a bottle

Without chemical analysis, only in an organoleptic way - nothing. The fact is that methanol is similar to ethyl alcohol, so there will be no sharp smell or taste in a drink with methyl impurities.

At home, they advise you to try to set fire to the liquid, but we want to disappoint: methyl alcohol burns very similar to ethyl alcohol, besides, in its pure form, you still won’t meet it in a bottle of alcohol, so it’s useless.

One of the most reliable ways is to heat up a copper wire and dip it into a drink. Methyl, when heated sharply, decomposes into formaldehydes (the strongest poison, in fact, it is the decomposition products of methanol that we poison ourselves with). If a sharp unpleasant odor appears, it means that methanol is present in the drink. Ethyl alcohol does not produce a strong odor when heated.

How to avoid buying "scorched" alcohol

Choose civilized places of trade, well-known stores where they are responsible for the products. In the end, they can be taken to court, in the worst case.

Take a close look at the bottle:

• the cork must be intact, the tightness of the bottle must not be broken
• labels must be intact and even
• excise stamps must be affixed to the bottle
• on the back label there should be a sticker with the coordinates of the manufacturer and importer
• most bottles have a cork packed in plastic, and the brand name is on the plastic wrap. It must not be damaged.

The price should not be low; before buying, you can check how much alcohol of the selected brand should cost.

Most of the bottles of foreign and domestic manufacturers are protected with convex and concave inscriptions, coats of arms, holograms, embossed labels and other things. Information about this can be found on the Internet. But knowing all these nuances will not give you a guarantee against poisoning: it is really very expensive to make bottles for counterfeit alcohol on your own, instead, criminals get the original containers, which are left in large quantities at bars and restaurants after holidays and organizing weddings.

The first signs of poisoning

Poisoning with methyl alcohol manifests itself 8-12 hours after its use. The first signs: headache, weakness, vomiting, blurred vision, blurred vision, flickering before the eyes. There may be loss of color vision as well as blindness.

First aid measures

Be sure to see a doctor. Urgently!

Get out into fresh air, induce vomiting, take a laxative.

Keep any leftover alcohol that you suspect has been poisoning you. They will be needed to accurately identify toxic substances.

This alcoholic drink has a very interesting founding history.

Priest Denn Call is considered the founder of the Jack Daniel's brand. He was the owner of a distillery and made high-quality whiskey there. Once he took the seven-year-old boy Jasper Daniel as his assistant. The boy, despite his young age, turned out to be very smart, he quickly learned all the intricacies of making whiskey and soon priest Denn made him his full-fledged partner in production. After the death of Denn Call, Jasper Daniel became the sole owner of the distillery. This was the beginning of the great history of the legendary Jack Daniel's drink.

The uniqueness of the drink is that in its production they use additional purification through maple charcoal. Thanks to this whiskey acquires a special taste and softness.

Gradually, over time, a small distillery grew into a full-fledged Jack Daniel's whiskey distillery. Already in 1866, the distillery was officially registered, and it was the world's first official whiskey production.

Soon the plant was moved to the city of Litchburg, as there were springs with very soft and crystal clear water. Jasper was well aware that the taste properties of the drink directly depend on the quality of the water.

At first, whiskey was sold in earthenware bottles with wooden corks and an engraving of Mr. Jack. In 1895, a square-shaped bottle was born, which is still used today. These bottles are very convenient to use and transport. The shape of the bottles has not changed since then, only the manufacturer adds additional security marks to their design. This allows you to protect yourself from fakes.

Since 1904, Jack Daniel's almost every year has received awards for the best whiskey in the world at various exhibitions.

The recipe for the drink did not change until 1988. This year, the new head of the brand, Jack Reir, decided to change the technology of whiskey production. Since then, the drink has undergone a double purification: before being placed in a barrel and after four years of aging through ordinary coal. This gave the whiskey even more softness and at the same time a special characteristic taste.

Given the popularity of the drink around the world, it is not surprising that there are many manufacturers of fake Jack Daniel's whiskey on the market. To learn how to distinguish a fake from the original, you need to know the features of this drink.

Signs of fake whiskey

Jack Daniel's is the most forged whiskey in the world. In order not to be disappointed and avoid buying low-quality whiskey, let's look at the main differences between the original and the fake.

The first thing you see when you buy is the bottle. This is the main object of our analysis. This is the only thing that will help you determine the originality of the drink without making a purchase.

Shake the bottle - in a real drink, after shaking, large bubbles should appear that stay on the surface for a long time. The color should not be too dark, but not light either. Not even the slightest sediment or turbidity is allowed.

Don't get too excited when you see discounts on this whiskey in the store. The original Jack Daniel's brand does not hold promotions and discounts are quite rare and very small. If you see a 50% - 70% discount, be sure that you have a fake.

Now look at the lid. It is in the original plastic drink, covered with a plastic film. The film should have Old No.7 brand on the front of the bottle and Tennessee WHISKEY on the back. Also on the plastic film there should be perforation: two strips vertically and one horizontally.

The neck of the bottle in the original is faceted, in fakes it is most often just round. The edges should be even and slightly convex. There should be a convex ring at the base of the neck. The drink is poured a little above it.

In the shape of the bottle itself, the edges should be clearly visible. Counterfeit drink bottles usually have rounded edges. In the photo below, a fake bottle is on the left, and the original is on the right.

Also pay attention to whether there are Jack Daniel's engravings on the shoulders of the bottles. They should be very neat and even, without errors. The volume of the drink should also be engraved at the bottom.

The bottom of the bottle should be a clear square shape with cuts, evenly angled on all sides. The first photo below is a typical view of the bottom of a fake whiskey bottle. And the second is the original.

And finally, the label. It should be embossed, evenly pasted without streaks and traces of glue. There are no mistakes allowed in the inscriptions. The label is glued in real Jack Daniel's evenly on three sides of the bottle. On the left side of the label there must be a unique code that indicates the number of the barrel and the date the whiskey was bottled.

If you have already bought Jack Daniel's whiskey, then when uncorking, pay attention to whether there is a dispenser. There is a misconception that the original Jack Daniel's should not have a dispenser. In fact, this is just an indicator of the originality of the drink. But fakes save on the presence of a dispenser.

The smell of the drink has characteristic notes of coal. The taste is tart-sweet with a caramel aftertaste. Fakes always give themselves out with a sharp alcohol smell and taste. Such whiskey can not only spoil your holiday, but also provoke poisoning.

Beware of shopping at suspicious points of sale. It is best to make a purchase of such a noble drink in specialized stores of alcoholic beverages.