Gallic acid, vanillic acid, syringic acid, vanillin, syringaldehyde, and ferulic acid were determined in matured spirits by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography. Concentrations varied from 0 to 11 ppm depending on the compound and the beverage. Gallic acid and syringaldehyde were the main components. Vanillic acid, vanillin, and, especially, gallic acid were the most important in distinguishing the different classes of spirit. Discriminate analysis gave 2 factors, which, however, could not be used to classify the samples with any great confidence: 61% of the whiskies, 33% of the rums, and 52% of the brandies were correctly assigned in this way.
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Matti Lehtonen (1983) studied this question.