What Are Heads, Hearts and Tails?

These are the three stages of a distillation run — the heads and tails are cut away as impure, while the hearts (the "cut") are kept as the final spirit.

During a distillation run, not every drop that comes off the still is equally desirable — different compounds evaporate and condense at different points in the process, so distillers separate the run into three broad stages.

Heads (the "foreshots")

The first liquid to come off the still, rich in highly volatile compounds like acetone and methanol, along with light, sharp, sometimes solvent-like esters. These compounds boil off at lower temperatures than ethanol, so they come through early — and in large enough quantities, some (like methanol) can be genuinely harmful. The heads are almost always discarded or redistilled, never bottled directly.

Hearts (the "cut")

The middle portion of the run, where the distiller judges the spirit to be at its cleanest and most desirable balance of alcohol and flavour compounds. This is the part that's kept and goes on to become the final product — whether that's whisky new-make, white rum, or gin. Deciding exactly where the hearts begin and end ("making the cut") is one of the most skill-dependent judgment calls in distilling, usually made by taste, smell, and monitoring the alcohol percentage as it drops through the run.

Tails (the "feints")

The final portion of the run, containing heavier, oilier compounds (fusel oils) that come through as the alcohol percentage drops and temperatures rise further. Small amounts of tails can add desirable weight and complexity, but too much brings unpleasant, oily or vegetal off-flavours. Tails, like heads, are usually set aside — often to be redistilled with the next batch's heads and hearts rather than wasted entirely.

Why this matters for flavour

The width and placement of the "cut" is one of the biggest levers a distiller has over a spirit's final character — a narrower, more conservative cut generally produces a cleaner but sometimes less characterful spirit, while a wider cut retains more congeners and complexity at the risk of unwanted harshness.