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Are all hard liquors Kosher?

by Rabbi Avraham Juravel

www.OUKosher.org

  

Library » Mitzvot » Kosher » Miscellaneous | Subscribe | What is RSS?


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Saying L'chaim is very much a part of Jewish life. At a Shul kiddush, a wedding or a Bar Mitzvah, one is sure to find a host of alcoholic beverages including scotches, whiskeys and cordials. Yet, many do not realize that liquor—a seemingly natural product produced by distilling grain spirits—requires Kosher certification.

Certification is necessary for a number of reasons. It is important to realize that all whiskey produced in the United States is taxed by the government. The amount of tax levied is based on the amount of alcohol in the bottle. An eighty-proof bottle of whiskey, for example, will be taxed less than a one hundred-proof bottle. (Proof equals ½ percent. One hundred proof is 50 percent alcohol.) Currently, distilled spirits are the most heavily taxed consumer products in the United States. Indeed, federal, state and local governments receive more than $18 billion per year in tax revenue from the beverage alcohol industry. In fact, one manufacturer told me that he pays more in taxes than he pays for the bottle, the material and the processing combined! In light of the high taxes levied on these beverages, manufacturers are constantly looking for legal loopholes that would enable them to elevate the alcohol content without incurring additional tax.

One manufacturer told me that he pays more in taxes than he pays for the bottle, the material and the processing combined
One such loophole involves inserting flavors—known in the industry as “blenders”—into whiskey. The ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) permits a bottle of whiskey to contain a blender as long as it does not constitute more than 2 percent of the bottle. The blender is usually at least 98 percent alcohol. The law then states the following: If, when the blender is diluted to 14 percent alcohol it is deemed undrinkable, it qualifies as being tax-free. Essentially, this means the following: Blenders elevate the alcohol content of a beverage without increasing the amount of tax; understandably, most manufacturers insert blenders into whiskey and thereby avoid paying tax on 2 percent of the alcohol in their products.

To kosher consumers, the obvious question is, “What are blenders made of?” There are thousands of flavor chemicals, and any one of them can be used in a blender, as long as it has been deemed “GRAS,” that is, Generally Regarded As Safe, by both the government and the flavor industry. Of course, some of these ingredients are not kosher. (Common non-kosher ingredients used in blenders are listed later in this article.)

But even if we ascertain that the blender in the whiskey is kosher, there may still be a problem: Since wine is taxed at a much lower rate than whiskey, oftentimes whiskey not only contains blenders, it contains wine. Wine raises the alcohol content without incurring the tax reserved for liquor. All of these issues present Kashrut concerns. There are those in the kosher certification industry who maintain that blenders do not pose any kashrut problems. They base their belief on the following faulty reasoning: Since a blender is not drinkable at 14 percent, it is nifsal meachilat kelev—not suitable for a dog to consume—and therefore blended whiskey need not have certification.

This is not the position taken by the Orthodox Union. The term nifsal meachilat kelev applies to food that is inherently bad at any concentration. A dog, for instance, would probably not eat a few ounces of straight garlic powder, but that does not render garlic powder nifsal meachilat kelev. This is because as a spice, garlic powder is tasty. The Halachic principle of nifsal meachilat kelev applies to the inherent quality of the food, not how the food tastes in one concentration or another.


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Talmud
Usually referring to the Babylonian edition, it is a compilation of Rabbinic law, commentary and analysis compiled over a 600 year period (200 BCE - 427 CE). Talmudic verse serves as the bedrock of all classic and modern-day Torah-Jewish literature.
Halachic
Pertaining to Jewish Law.
Kosher
Literally means "fit." Commonly used to describe foods which are permitted by Jewish dietary laws, but is also used to describe religious articles (such as a Torah scroll or Sukkah) which meet the requirements of Jewish law.
Kashrut
Laws of Kosher (Jewish dietary laws).
Shul
(Yiddish) Synagogue.
Bar Mitzvah
The thirteenth birthday of a Jewish male. On this day -- customarily celebrated with a modest party -- the adolescent reaches adulthood and is responsible to observe all the commandments of the Torah.
Poskim
Authorities in Jewish law.