At Legend’s Distillery, through our Quantum Purity process, we are striving to produce the purest expression of Bourbon on the American market, and we believe chill filtration strips our Bourbon of its fullest flavor and of the natural elements given to us by the American Oak that traditionally ages our spirits. The collaboration of distilled spirits and charred oak is a beautiful dance, and we simply do not feel it’s our place to disturb that elegant process.

 

The primary purpose of chill filtering is for visual appeal on the retail market. Spirits aged in barrels carry over elements of the wood into the bottle including esters, fusil oils, fatty acids, and aldehydes. These are natural occurring elements of the aging process and contribute to flavor, aroma, mouth feel, and clarity of bourbon and aged whiskeys. These elements in alcohol proofed lower than 46% or when chilled tend to turn the spirit hazy and float around like snow flakes. The only real way to remove them from the spirit is to chill and filter. However, this process pulls out the flavor and mouth feel contributions of the wood element. So at Legend’s, we say “Embrace the haze!”

 

For more in depth reading on the subject of Chilled Filtration, please check out these additional resources:

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https://www.bruichladdich.com/faq/bruichladdichs-guide-chill-filtration/

https://www.whiskyadvocate.com/chill-filtered-bourbon-whiskey/