What's in that stuff? (was vertigris)

[Jeff Tanner]

I'm not a distiller and I'm no chemist, but I've learned a tiny bit 
from tv and other sources about making liquor.  I understand the color 
in the bourbon comes from the wooden barrels.  Different barrel woods 
(oak, hickory, or whatever they use) produce slightly different 
coloring and slightly different flavor.

Clear corn liquor on the other hand, (like Ever Clear, Golden Grain, 
Moonshine, etc.)  is not aged in wooden barrels but in stainless steel 
drums, thus the reason it is clear.  Can be the same exact stuff before 
aging, (except as I understand it, modern moonshiners use more sugar 
than in the old days because sugar is cheaper than corn) but the aging 
process is what separates the types of bourbons from other grain 
liquors.

So, the coloring in the bourbon is substances pulled from the wood, and 
I'm guessing some form of glucose or sucrose in the sap is a part of 
that, which would account for the sticky substance you wipe off the bar.

Jeff