[Avodah] Selling bourbon before pesach

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Ben Waxman wrote:
> Rabbi Shabbtai Rappaport did a hakira on how whiskey is made today
> and concluded that it is not hametz at all.

I have long wondered about these drinks, and how they are made, and why it is common to hear them referred to as "chometz gamur". I tried looking on Wikipedia under "whiskey" and "distillation", and other articles, and they really did not explain anything to me.

Can someone direct me to a simple explanation of how these drinks are made? For example, do the grains merely soak in water until the water has absorbed their flavor? If so, then this would not really be chometz gamur, but more of a "kavush k'mevushal" status. Or are the grains actually dissolved into the water?

(And I understand that distilled water is when steam is collected into droplets of liquid water, but I have no idea what that has to do with "distilled spirits".)

Akiva Miller


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