Whiskey is an industry still steeped in, if not legitimate history, then a certain ersatz old-timey-ness. Brands are usually named after long-dead folks who may or may not have ever even been associated with the “historic” recipes we’re currently drinking. Labels often have a font and layout more appropriate for crinkly documents written by the founding fathers. And the master distillers still making these products have seemingly been in the industry so long, they may very well have once broken bread with Pappy Van Winkle himself. So it’s no surprise that much of the industry’s slang is also rooted in an era before many of us were born.

Talk to grizzled ol’ whiskey veterans and their language will be peppered with terms that probably wouldn’t have seemed too out of place in a Wild West saloon. “Alligator char.” “Mash bills” and “rickhouses.” “Bungs” and “brains.”

One part blue-collar lingo, another part lyrical mysticism, these terms come from folks who depend not just on their muscle, but on the magic that is the fermentation and distillation process. Their argot informs both of those things. That means you don’t just have spilt whiskey on the floor of your rickhouse, you have “slop.” While whiskey doesn’t just evaporate during the aging process, it floats to the heavens to be part of the “angel’s share.”

The modern whiskey boom has likewise led to many enthusiasts, or “anoraks” as some distillers call them, developing their own terminologies for the bottles they collect. “HAZMATs” found at “honey holes.” “LEs” and “private barrels.” And don’t you dare forget those “unicorns” that are still “in the wild.”

To help understand this unique industry vernacular, we reached out to a handful of distillers for help:

• Alex Chasko, master distiller at Teeling Whiskey Co.
• Brian McKenzie, owner of Finger Lakes Distilling
• Eddie Russell, co-master distiller at Wild Turkey
• Harlen Wheatley, master distiller at Buffalo Trace Distillery

The interiors of all whiskey barrels are charred, but the levels of char can vary depending on the barrel producer or distillery. The most commonly used levels are #1-#4. The #4 Char is known as the “alligator char,” since after that duration of charring, the interior of the oak wood staves has the rough, shiny texture of alligator skin.—Russell

The portion (share) of whiskey that is lost to evaporation during aging in oak barrels, so called because lore claims it is what the angel’s get to taste. —Russell

An insider term used to describe a big fan of something unusual. —Russell

Recycled pot ale which may be added either to the fermenter or to the cooker and serves as a source of nutrients. Reduces the amount of water used for mashing and the amount of liquid residue. Can be a source of bacterial contamination. —Chasko

The first day of fermentation when the mash looks like a brain. —Russell

The opening of the barrel from which the whiskey is added and drained. —Russell

A kind of mallet for beating the bung stave of a cask/barrel to start the bung. —Wheatley

An oak cask, originally containing sherry, with a capacity of around 500 liters. —Chasko

The skill of rolling a 100-pound barrel of whiskey into the rickhouse to stand its bung hole at 12 o’clock so no whiskey is lost in the process. —Russell

Point at which the still operator changes between the different fractions (head/heart/tail) of a distillation. —Chasko

Whiskey that’s been artificially colored. —Russell

Malt that is earthy and potentially off-putting in tone and taste. —Russell

A whiskey over 140-proof, so-called by whiskey geeks because you aren’t allowed to take a bottle onto an airplane.

Spirits come off the still in phases known as heads (or foreshots), hearts, and tails (or feints). Heads are set to the side for another run through the still because of the high content of unacceptable highly-volatile flavor components. Hearts are collected for bottling and aging. While tails are the final fraction, with unacceptably high content of low-volatile flavour components, recycled to the next distillation to recover the significant alcohol content. —McKenzie & Chasko

The result of the second distillation; a type of liquor containing a high percentage of alcohol. —Russell

A cask with a capacity of circa 246 liters (54 gallons) often reconstructed from American bourbon barrels by addition of additional staves and larger heads. —Chask

An off-the-beaten path store that continues to yield rare bottles for a whiskey enthusiast, who will rarely share his good fortune with fellow collectors lest the shelves soon get picked over.

Bottles that are stocked on store shelves, out in the open, something highly unusual for rare offerings. “I can’t believe I found a Pappy ‘in the wild.’”

A high-strength whisky. —Russell

Limited editions. I.e. rare whiskeys.

The first distillation liquid that goes through the still. The low wines have a strength of about 25–35% alcohol by volume, and flow into a second still. —Russell

The grain recipe that goes into the mash to be fermented and distilled into whiskey (i.e. 70% corn, 20% rye, and 10% malted barley). —McKenzie

A mixture of warm water and dried yeast. This is used to activate and “wake up” our yeast before the mash is added. —Wheatley

A heavily peated whiskey. —Russell

Homemade Irish whiskey. The name comes from the way it is made: typically in a small pot (the Irish word for pot is pota), often with fermented potatoes instead of malted barley. —Chasko

Term used in the Scotch whisky industry for the residue in the wash still at the end of distillation/ the residue in the spirit still at the end of distillation. (Also known as “spent lees.”)  —Chasko

Single barrel offerings specifically purchased in full by stores, bars, or individuals. Also known as “barrel selects” or “store selects.”

Condensed distillate returning to a lower level of the still system (i.e. in batch distillation, to the pot). —Chasko

The place where barrels are stored for aging. Most rickhouses are made of wood, but can also include cement or brick buildings. —Russell

A scraping device to remove charring from internal heating surfaces of directly fired stills. —Chasko

Like “peat monster,” this means a heavily sherried whiskey and is often reserved for those of the high-ABV variations. —Russell

Spilt liquid on the floor of the rickhouses.  —Russell

A special barrel tasted straight from inside the rickhouse.  —Russell

A highly-rare bottle, so named because collectors are stunned to see one out “in the wild.”

Term used for the fermentation vessel. —Chasko

A slurry of mostly solids that distillers turn into cattle feed. —Wheatley

Mostly liquid from the spent beer. This is what distillers use as setback in the fermentation process. —Wheatley

A small pot still used for an additional run of distillation. It is named for the loud thumping sound it makes when it is heating up. —McKenzie

The mash by-product after most of the moisture has been removed. —Russell

A tool distillers use to extract small portions of whiskey from an aging barrel for sampling or quality control. The old-fashioned ones are made typically of copper and resemble a drinking straw in design. —Russell

Completely unaged whiskey; the product of full distillation before aging in oak barrels. —Russell