London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London

Islington 1906

Fifty-first annual report on the health and sanitary condition of the Metropolitan Borough of Islington

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285 [1906
"though doubtless these prosecutions are very costly to those who engage in them, the
"information obtained and published in the course of the hearing of these two
"summonses is most valuable, and the result of this trial seems to me to afford ample
"justification for the prosecutions."

Table: The following differences, apart from those of an analytical character, between pot still whiskey and patent still spirit are interesting.

The following differences, apart from those of an analytical character, between pot still whiskey and patent still spirit are interesting.

Pot Still Whiskey.Patent Still Spirit.
1. Costs as it comes from still, at lowest 2s. 6d. per gallon.1. Costs 10d. to 1s. per gallon.
2. It is kept 3 years before using, and each year adds at least 6d. per gallon to its cost.2. It is generally used at once, and consequently it is sold at a third to one-sixth of the price of pot still.
3. It greatly improves on keeping.3. There is little or no improvement, hence there is no object in keeping it.
4. It contains pure alcohol plus certain carminatives, which are chemically ascertainable, plus an essence which gives to it the characteristic taste and odour of whiskey, but which analysts have yet been unable to isolate.4. It contains pure alcohol and very few carminatives and none of the essence.
5. It is made entirely from malt as in Scotch Whiskey, or from mixture of malt, oats, rye or wheat, as in Irish Whiskey.5. It is generally made in this country from Indian corn (maize), but it is sometimes distilled from potatoes, beet, or even from saw dust.
6. All the grains from which it is made grow in the United Kingdom, and are grown specially for this purpose by farmers in Scotland and Ireland.6. The Indian corn only grows in tropical or sub-tropical climes.
7. It is only manufactured in Scotland or Ireland.7. It is made chiefly in Scotland but is also distilled in England, even in London, and even the latter is sold largely to the public as genuine Scotch and Irish Whiskeys.