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Dear Gang,

Since I hardly ever drink, and when I do I drink a glass of wine, I had asked recently about what people drink for cocktails.  I then posted a summary of "safe" cocktail recommendations I received.  BUT I did not mention whiskey drinks, and I did not specify vodka made from POTATOES.  Since my summary I received a few posts regarding this.  It seems that although we have got the "official word" that the distillation process is effective in removing all gluten, some people feel very strongly about not trusting this because of the symptoms they experience when they drink grain-based, distilled liquor.  The following is from www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/basic.html  and I have included it because it seemed to "sum up" the responses I received:

"Wine, rum, tequila, and sake are usually safe as their alcohols do not generally come from toxic grains. Some vodkas are also okay. However, as with any other ingested product, you should gauge your reaction and learn as much about your favored brands as possible. Grain alcohols are one of those controversial items. While the distillation process should leave no room for glutens to wind up in the end product, many celiacs do report problems with ingestion. (One theory is that some of the original "mash" may be added back in at the end of the process for flavor. This is worth researching with the manufacturer of your favorite product.)  Many liquors are made with grain alcohol and so may be suspect. Whiskey, bourbon, gin and rye are definitely off the list, since they are made with rye and barley. Beer, too, must be avoided, since malt (usually from barley) is an ingredient. Even rice beers use malt. "
Here are some relevant POST-SUMMARY postings:


1)  "The CSA has a complete listing of all foods that are gluten free, and a list that is not.  Whiskey, beer and red wine are on this list.  I do drink red wine on occasion.  Michelob Ultra is a rice beer that is brewed with barley as I suppose all beers are.  They claim that the protein in the barley is turned into amino acids and that their scientists are unable to detect any gluten in it ... To tell you the truth we have been drinking it as it is low carb 2.6 and only has 96 calories. (my wife is on a low-carb diet)  It hasn't caused me any problems yet.  I have T-1 diabetes, DH and CD."

2)  "Here's a nice website/description of the making of scotch whiskey for
those
> who wonder if it's safe
> http://www.freeduty.com.hk/whisky_making_smw.html  I've always been
> dubious.  I have a  nice collection of single malts from bygone days just
> languishing away, so I finally found time to look into it.   This is quite
> a lovely, thorough description of the process.  It's distilled twice,  and
> there's no mention of adding anything back, so it should be free of
gluten,
> despite being made from wheat and/or barley! "

3)  "I have contacted Jack Daniels and they say they are are GF.  The distilling
process gets teh gluten out.  I have posted this question as before
diagnosis I was a Jack and coke and beer drinker.  I got an overwhelming
response from this group with about 47 out of 50 drink an occasional
whiskey.  I am not very sensitive, more of a fluke how I got diagnosed, so I
didn't feel my gut reaction was enough.  Lots of sensitive Celiacs say they
have no reaction, and one man who has the DH, says he breaks out with the
smallest amount of gluten and drinks whiskey with no ill effects."

4)  And another list member essentially said "don't believe it" when it comes to the distillation process removing gluten.


There is always the issue that we can get symptoms from other things besides gluten.  For example, I wound up having a gin & tonic, and I felt rotten afterwards.  The issue of whiskey is not important to me, because I have no desire to drink it.  Although I've been extremely busy lately, I felt I needed to respond to the folks who wrote in about this.  As you can see, there are very different experiences and opinions.   At the end of the day, each of us is responsible for his/her own health, and each must do what they think is best for them.

P.S.:  One list member sent me a very nice Smirnoff GF list, but because it had personal information on it (name/address, etc), I didn't think it was appropriate for me to forward.  From the responses I've gotten, though, I think a number of people would be interested in seeing this.  

Whew!  Hope this was helpful

Latimer

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