<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I received ten or twelve replies to my post.
The following are excerpts:

'Yeh for you Jessie,  keep  talking this list needs to hear from you.'
________
'Obviously this provides no answers, just my perception of the
difference.  I still try to just stick to the American view (even though
I am proudly Canadian)  because if there is a dispute, I like to err on
the side of caution.'
__________
'I don't know what is allowed in the Americas but it is
strictly illegal for any European fortified wine to be
fortified with grain alcohol - only grape alcohol is
allowed (ie brandy).  Incidentally there is no doubt either
of the GF status of REAL scotch whisky.  Any SCOTCH whisky
is double distilled and may not have any wort added ie it
is GF. ALL flavour comes from the barrels, most of which
are sherry barrels.  You can check this yourself by
searching the web for their sites.

You will understand that, with wine lakes brimming in
Europe, there is no advantage to using anything other than
brandy to fortify with and no one is bothered by these
rules.'
________________
'The book I have from the Canadian Celiac Association lists distilled
alcohol as being safe.  Since Joan Tuckey is from my local chapter I will
continue to follow the diet I have been following.  I for one have no
problems with distilled alcohol, distilled vinegar or even vanilla
extracts (with alcohol).  Some celiacs may just be reacting to something
else and not gluten and have deemed distilled whatever unsafe.'
___________________
The following letter is printed in its entirety because of the content.
'Thank you for your post! The CCA's position on alcoholic drinks lead my
mother to continue drinking scotch whiskey even though she was dutifully
following a gluten free diet. She has it underlined in her Celiac
Association Handbook that scotch is okay. Because of drinking this her
health disintegrated to the point where she had a 10 day nose bleed that
ended in a coma. These are two of the most severe gluten intolerance
symptoms! Thankfully, Mum recovered with huge doses of electrolyte
solution. If she had been instructed otherwise, she would be a lot
healthier than she is now and she wouldn't have had to put up with years
and years of diminishing brain function and severe osteoporosis.

The CCA also promotes canola, a very dangerous genetically engineered plant.
Hmmmmm!?

Thanks again!'
___________________

One US list member asked me to name a safe vodka.  Sorry, I would not
venture to do this.

Thanks for the many replies.  It is obvious that we do not all agree.   One
of the difficulties is that what appears to be a safe product in one country
may not be so in another.

It becomes increasingly clear that as celiacs we have to take the
responsibility to do our own investigations and make our own decisions.

I would stress that it is best to err on the side of caution.

Thanks so much for the many detailed responses.

Jessie in BC, Canada