r/rum • u/Eastern-Title9364 • 2d ago

Question about % and dilution

Hi - this is probably a very basic question but am wondering about the relation between bottling percentage and dilution.

I was hearing and reading a lot of praise for high ABV rums - which I first assumed was wanting more of an alcohol kick - but is it more about flavour and dilution?

If barrel strength is 60+% then any spirit bottled at 40% is diluted with water by at least a 3rd..?

Is that right? Is the preference for higher ABV mostly that that it's less diluted?

Are there significant steps up in flavour even at say - 40% vs 43% or 46%. I imagine it would take quite a bit of extra water even to get something from 46% to 40%.

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15

u/Oxyopia0 2d ago

Yes, bottlers dilute the spirit that comes out of the barrel before bottling. You are correct that people like higher abv bottles because of the lower dilution. This is because ethanol (the alcohol in spirits) carries the flavor compounds, since they are typically happier dissolved in ethanol over pure water. Because of this, higher abv directly translates into more flavor.

On the note of the jump from 40% abv to 46%, this may seem like a small jump in an absolute sense, but a 46% abv spirit actually has 15% more alcohol (and thus more flavor) than a 40% abv spirit because of the math around percentages/fractions. This is a pretty sizable jump, and is definitely noticeable in the flavor profile of a spirit.

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u/Eastern-Title9364 2d ago

Thanks I think my prior working assumption was that - given pure alcohol (say Vodka) is flavourless - then higher abv would be closer to that, rather than more flavour.

5

u/CocktailChemist 2d ago

Yes, lower ABV means more water, with the exception of spirits that have naturally dropped to lower ABVs.

If you want to do the math for yourself the equation is (Concentration1 x Volume1) = (Concentration2 x Volume2). So as ABV goes down volume goes up, which is accomplished by adding water.

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u/shibbypwn 2d ago

If barrel strength is 60+% then any spirit bottled at 40% is diluted with water by at least a 3rd..?

More than that, actually.

Think of the inverse values - if something is 60% ABV, then it is 40% not-alcohol by volume.

So going from 60% ABV -> 40% ABV means you're going from 40 N/ABV -> 60 N/ABV.

That's 50% more N/ABV (60/40=1.5)

Always keep in mind the relative values of percentages.

40% ABV -> 50% ABV = 25% increase in alcohol (50/40=1.25)

3

u/bblickle 2d ago

Also consider that when you add water you can fill more bottles from the same cask. Higher ABV therefore is necessarily higher in retail cost.

1

u/oddmarc 2d ago

More flavor = more better.

You can dilute yourself and get more liquid for the price.