Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-05T06:45:51.275Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Using Carbon Isotopes to Fight the Rise in Fraudulent Whisky

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2020

Gordon T Cook*
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland, UK
Elaine Dunbar
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland, UK
Brian G Tripney
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland, UK
Derek Fabel
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: Gordon.Cook@glasgow.ac.uk

Abstract

A major threat to the Scotch whisky industry is the sale of counterfeit single malt whiskies with purported distillation years in the 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries. However, these are often much more recent spirits, distilled in the latter part of the 20th or first part of the 21st centuries. These sales impinge upon the reputation of auction houses, retailers, brand owners and distillers. The atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the 1950s and early 1960s has enabled a precise calibration curve to be created, however, there are several reasons why this may not be appropriate for establishing the year of whisky distillation. We have created a 14C calibration curve derived from known-age, single malt whiskies for the period 1950–2015 that enables whisky distilled during the period from 1955 onwards to have the distillation year determined to within 1–3 years for certain periods. However, because of the shape of the curve, two possible age ranges are often possible. The correct range can often be determined from a further plot of δ13C values against distillation year, which shows a trend of decreasing values through time. Several examples are given of the determination of both genuine and fake products.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2020 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ashok, PC, Praveen, BB, Dholakia, K. 2011. Near infrared spectroscopic analysis of single malt Scotch whisky on an optofluidic chip. Optics Express 19(23):2298222992.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aylott, R. 2013. Chapter 16: Analytical strategies supporting protected designations of origin for alcoholic beverages. Comprehensive Anal Chem 60:409438.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aylott, RI, Clyne, AH, Fox, AP, Walker, DA. 1994. Analytical strategies to confirm Scotch whisky authenticity. Analyst (Lond.) 119(8):17411746.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aylott, RI, MacKenzie, WM. 2010. Analytical strategies to confirm the generic authenticity of Scotch whisky. J Inst Brewing 116(3):215229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2017. OxCal ver. 4.3.2.Google Scholar
Cook, GT, Ainscough, LAN, Dunbar, E. 2015. Radiocarbon analysis of modern skeletal remains to determine year of birth and death—a case study. Radiocarbon 57:327336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, GT, Dunbar, E, Black, SM, Xu, S. 2006. A preliminary assessment of age at death determination using the nuclear weapons testing 14C activity of dentine and enamel. Radiocarbon 48:305313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, H. 1957. Isotopic standards for carbon and oxygen and correction factors for mass spectrometric analysis of carbon dioxide. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 12(1–2):133149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunbar, E, Cook, GT, Naysmith, P, Tripney, BG, Xu, S. 2016. AMS 14C dating at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC) Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory. Radiocarbon 58(1):923.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hua, Q, Barbetti, M, Rakowski, AZ. 2013. Atmospheric radiocarbon for the period 1950–2010. Radiocarbon 55(4):20592072.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lachenmeier, DW. 2016. Chapter 21: Advances in the detection of the adulteration of alcoholic beverages including unrecorded alcohol. In: Downey, G, editor. Advances in food authenticity testing. Woodhead Publishing. p. 565584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loader, NJ, Santillo, PM, Woodman-Ralpha, JP, Rolfe, JE, Hall, MA, Gagen, M, Robertson, I, Wilson, R, Froyd, CA, McCarroll, D. 2008. Multiple stable isotopes from oak trees in southwestern Scotland and the potential for stable isotope dendroclimatology in maritime climatic regions. Chemical Geology 252(1–2):6271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lopes, JS, Pinto, RE, Almendra, ME. 1975. Variations in the level of carbon-14 in wines of the Douro region from 1950 to 1974. Agronomia Lusitana 36(3):223234.Google Scholar
Meier-Augenstein, W, Kemp, HF, Hardie, SML. 2012. Detection of counterfeit scotch whisky by H-2 and O-18 stable isotope analysis. Food Chem 133(3):10701074.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scotch Whisky Association. 2019. www.scotch-whisky.org.uk.Google Scholar
Scott, EM, Naysmith, P, Cook, GT. 2017. Should archaeologists care about 14C inter-comparisons? Why? A summary report on SIRI. Radiocarbon 59(5):15891596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, EM, Naysmith, P, Cook, GT. 2018. Why do we need 14C inter-comparisons? The Glasgow 14C inter-comparison series, a reflection over 30 years. Quaternary Geochronology 43:7282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slota, PJ, Jull, AJT, Linick, TW, Toolin, LJ. 1987. Preparation of small samples for 14C accelerator targets by catalytic reduction of CO. Radiocarbon 29(2):303306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spalding, KL, Buchholz, BA, Bergman, L-E, Druid, H, Frisen, J. 2005. Age written in teeth by nuclear tests. Nature 437:333334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stuiver, M, Reimer, PJ, Reimer, RW. 2018. CALIB 7.1. http://calib.org/calib/.Google Scholar
Ubelaker, DH, Parra, RC. 2011. Radiocarbon analysis of dental enamel and bone to evaluate date of birth and death: perspective from the southern hemisphere. Forensic Sci Int 208:103107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zoppi, U, Skopec, Z, Skopec, J et al. 2004. Forensic applications of C-14 bomb-pulse dating. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 223:770775.CrossRefGoogle Scholar