Spirituous
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence · Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
The phrase spirituous liquor, in a penal statute, cannot be extended beyond its exact literal sense. Spirit is the name of an inflammable liquor produced by distillation. Wine is the fermented juice of the grape, or a preparation of other vegetables by fermentation; hence the term does not include wine.
State V. Moore, 5 Black/. 118. In Stat. 20 Car. II. ch.
1, upon an argument in the exchequer, anno 1668, whether brandy were a strong water or spirit, it was resolved to be a spirit; but in the year 1669, by a grand committee of the whole house of commons, it was voted to be a strong water perfectly made. (See Stat. 22 Car. II. ch. 4.) Jacob, tit.
Brandy.