Understanding Heads, Hearts and Tails: Making Perfect Cuts
Making "cuts" is the single most important skill in distillation—it's the difference between harsh, hangover-inducing spirit and smooth, professional-quality product. During distillation, different compounds come through at different times based on their boiling points. Foreshots and heads contain harsh, potentially harmful compounds. Hearts are the pure, drinkable spirit. Tails contain heavy oils that cause cloudiness and bad flavours. Knowing when to switch between them is what separates good distillers from great ones.
