What Are Heads, Hearts, and Tails in Distilling?

Spend enough time around a distillery and you’ll eventually hear someone talk about “heads, hearts, and tails.”

It sounds a little poetic. Maybe even mysterious.

But it’s actually one of the most important concepts in distilling. Understanding it helps explain why great spirits don’t come from recipes alone. They come from decisions, timing, experience, and craftsmanship.

One Distillation Run, Three Parts

Distillation is all about separation.

As a fermented mash heats up inside the still, different compounds evaporate at different temperatures. What comes off the still changes throughout the run, and distillers divide that run into three parts:

Heads

Hearts

Tails

Each section has its own chemical makeup and its own impact on flavor, aroma, and quality.

The art of distilling lies in knowing exactly where to make the cuts between them.

The Heads: The First Cut

The first liquid to come off the still is called the heads.

These early compounds are light and highly volatile. Some smell sharp and solvent-like, similar to paint thinner or nail polish remover. In larger amounts, certain compounds can even be harmful.

At MurLarkey, we take that seriously.

We never put heads into our bottled spirits. In fact, we often repurpose them as cleaning alcohol or hand sanitizer because they are highly effective for sanitizing. That alone should tell you why they don’t belong in your glass.

Still, distillation is never entirely black and white. In tiny amounts, some compounds from the heads can contribute brightness or complexity. The challenge is knowing exactly where to make the cut.

Cut too little, and harsh flavors creep into the spirit. Cut too much, and you may lose some of the subtle character that gives a whiskey personality.

That decision comes down to experience, instinct, and attention to detail. Every distillation run is a balancing act between chemistry and craftsmanship.

The Hearts: The Best of the Run

The hearts are exactly what they sound like.

This is the center cut. The portion of the run that becomes the spirit you ultimately drink.

This is where the balance lives.

The hearts contain the cleanest ethanol along with the most desirable flavor compounds. This is where you find the character of a whiskey, the clarity of a vodka, or the botanical expression in a gin.

At MurLarkey, this is where we spend the most time and attention. The transition from heads to hearts is not a hard line. It’s a judgment call based on experience, aroma, taste, and even subtle shifts in how the distillate behaves coming off the still.

This is where distilling becomes less about equipment and more about craft.

The Tails: Depth and Complexity

As the run continues, you move into the tails.

These heavier compounds can bring deeper, richer, sometimes earthy or oily characteristics. In small amounts, they can add complexity and body. In larger amounts, they can overwhelm a spirit and create unwanted flavors.

Like the heads, much of the tails are separated out. But unlike the heads, some distillers intentionally bring a portion of the early tails back into the final blend to build additional depth and character.

Again, it comes down to judgment and style.

The Art of Making the Cut

If there’s one place where distilling shifts from science to art, it’s here.

There’s no universal formula that tells a distiller exactly when to move from heads to hearts or from hearts to tails. There are guidelines, of course. But the real decisions happen in real time.

Distillers rely on:

Aroma

Taste

Temperature

Proof

Experience

It’s a constant process of evaluation.

Two distillers running the same still with the same mash bill can make slightly different cuts and end up with noticeably different spirits.

That’s not a flaw. That’s the craft.

Why It Matters to What’s in Your Glass

When you pick up a bottle of well-made spirits, you’re not just getting a recipe. You’re getting a series of decisions.

Where the cuts were made.

How aggressively the heads were removed.

Whether a touch of the tails was brought back in for complexity.

All of those choices shape what you ultimately taste in the glass.

It’s one of the reasons craft distilling is so compelling. Small decisions, made carefully and consistently, can have an enormous impact on the final product.

More Than Just a Process

At MurLarkey, “heads, hearts, and tails” is more than a distilling term.

It’s a reminder that great outcomes come from knowing what to keep, what to refine, and what to let go.

That’s true in the still. It’s true in business. And it’s true in life.

Every bottle has a story behind it. Every distillation run reflects hundreds of small decisions made with care, patience, and experience.

That idea inspired the name of our blog: Heads, Hearts & Tales.

Because while the process matters, the people and stories behind it matter just as much.

And those stories are worth sharing.