A new volatiles-based differentiation method of Chinese spirits using longpath gas-phase infrared spectroscopy.

The volatile compounds of different brands of Chinese spirits differ with respect to their composition and concentration. The infrared spectral characteristics of volatile gases from several brands of Chinese spirits were studied. We used a longpath gas cell to enhance the performance of the gas-phase infrared spectroscopy. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used for the discrimination of the different brands of spirits. It is demonstrated that different brands of Chinese spirits with the same flavour and from the same origin can be successfully differentiated.