Assignment of raw material and authentication of spirits by gas chromatography, hydrogen- and carbon-isotope ratio measurementsI. Analytical methods and results of a study of commercial products

Gas chromatography and the determination of natural isotope ratios are powerful analytical methods which can be used to check the authenticity of alcoholic beverages and to detect any adulteration. To check the origin and the authenticity of commercial fruit spirits, whiskies, etc., 197 samples were analysed by gas chromatography, ²H-NMR and ¹³C isotope mass spectrometry. The discrimination between different varieties was demonstrated by bivariate and multivariate discriminant analysis using different concentrations of volatile compounds such as methanol, butan-1-ol, 2- and 3-methyl-butanol, benzaldehyde and hexanol as well as isotopic data like (D/H)_I, (D/H)_II and ¹³C/¹²C isotopomers of ethanol. The results show that by using multivariate discriminant analysis it is possible to distinguish not only between different groups of spirits, e.g. those made of stone-fruit, malaceous fruit, grain and corn, but also between individual varieties, such as cherry, plum, mirabelle and apple. If the detection of highly rectified ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin and the identification of its raw materials are required, then natural isotope ratios are the only discriminant analytical parameters available.