Whisky Galore! Chemical Profiling and Differential Analysis

Whisky is a premium product produced using long established methods. The complex processes employed result in a final product that has unique characteristics and has high commercial value. As such, it is essential that whisky producers are able to obtain an accurate and comprehensive chemical profile that is characteristic to their individual product. This information can then be used to identify adulterated or counterfeit products and enable action to be taken, with confidence, to protect the product and brand.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is routinely used for chemical profiling applications due to its chromatographic resolution, reproducibility, peak capacity, and convenient spectral libraries. Gas chromatography (GC) provides excellent chromatographic separation capability to enable a comprehensive chemical signature of a sample to be obtained.

The recent introduction of high resolution, accurate mass (HRAM) Orbitrap technology coupled to GC brings a new level of performance and flexibility in GC-MS full-scan acquisition. This technology, in combination with sophisticated software tools (Compound Discoverer 3.2) that enable fast data processing and statistical analysis, has the potential to provide a complete workflow solution.

In this webinar, we will highlight a proof-of-concept study using the Thermo Scientific™ Q Exactive™ GC Orbitrap™ GC-MS/MS in the characterisation and profiling of extracts of whisky samples.