Making the Cuts: Heads, Hearts & Tails
The single skill that separates good spirit from great — and how the pros judge it.
GW
Alchemist G. G. Wilkins
Every run comes off in stages. Foreshots and heads come first and carry the harshest, most volatile compounds — you set those aside. The hearts are the keeper: smooth, clean, the spirit you're after.
Tails arrive last, heavy and oily. Skilled distillers stop the hearts before the tails creep in — many go by proof and temperature together.
Cuts are part science, part nose. The best distillers taste and smell their way through, jar by jar. It's a craft you sharpen over years.