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swish
DCHP-2 (May 2013)
n. & adj. — Atlantic Canada, Food & Drink
liquor made by pouring boiling water into an empty rum barrel to extract any remaining alcohol from the wood.
Type: 3. Semantic Change — The term refers to turning or "swishing" water in a rum, wine or other barrel in order to extract the alcohol absorbed by the barrel wood (see the 2006 quotation for a description of the process by a young Nova Scotian female blogger). An episode of the CBC-produced Trailer Park Boys, which featured the process, was important for the distribution of the term beyond Atlantic Canada.
The term is listed in DNE, s.v. "swish" (1), and Barber (2007) designates swish as "Atlantic Canadian".
See also, COD-2, s.v. "swish", which is marked "Cdn (Nfld & Maritimes)", and DNE, where it is documented in a single quotation (see the 1986 quotation). The term swish is what may be called a "new Newfoundlandism", as it stands in contrast to the large bulk of Newfoundland terms that derive from the island's traditional dialects.
See also, COD-2, s.v. "swish", which is marked "Cdn (Nfld & Maritimes)", and DNE, where it is documented in a single quotation (see the 1986 quotation). The term swish is what may be called a "new Newfoundlandism", as it stands in contrast to the large bulk of Newfoundland terms that derive from the island's traditional dialects.
Quotations
1979
Although the barrels are empty when sold by the Newfoundland Liquor Corp., experienced purchasers know how to get up to 14 25-ounce bottles of 40-proof liquor out of each one by swishing it with boiling water. Swish comes, as it were, out of the woodwork, coaxed forth by skilled, tender hands, filtered and bottled.
There are, alas, plans to transport a good deal of Newfoundland's future rum supplies in stainless steel containers which could be swished for months on end without yielding a thimbleful of anything more interesting than water.
1986
It kicks like a testy mule and Nova Scotians love it. It\'s \"swish\" - the dregs swished from discarded whiskey or rum barrels.
To make the heady alcohol, aficionados first had to get their hands on one of the coveted oak barrels, which the distillery used to age its whiskey or rum. They\'d take it home, fill it with hot water, then turn or swish the barrel around a few times over several days to draw out the liquor in the wood.
1988
He charges $55 for a swish barrel. They come only in rum or rye, the only hard liquors aged in an oaken barrel.
1997
"We all know what swish barrels are before they become planters . . . they're used to make cheap, untaxed-liquor product,'' said King, who concedes "swishing'' isn't illegal.
2006
Re: references only a Maritimer understands?
I have in fact made 'swish'. We aquired rum barrels in Edmonton (go figure) and you add water and sugar which absorbs the alcohol out of the hard wood barrel. You roll the barrel every day 1/8 of a turn (we marked the barrel with masking tape) and in a month or so, you drain the contents through cheese cloth. Now, the cheese cloth doesn't strain all of the black charcoal..ewww...anyhow, the end result is swish. And I absolutely laughed my ass off at the episode that featured swish, as it is a dirty, dirty drink! What became of the barrels? Well, cut them in half and now I have one in my back yard as a planter.
I have in fact made 'swish'. We aquired rum barrels in Edmonton (go figure) and you add water and sugar which absorbs the alcohol out of the hard wood barrel. You roll the barrel every day 1/8 of a turn (we marked the barrel with masking tape) and in a month or so, you drain the contents through cheese cloth. Now, the cheese cloth doesn't strain all of the black charcoal..ewww...anyhow, the end result is swish. And I absolutely laughed my ass off at the episode that featured swish, as it is a dirty, dirty drink! What became of the barrels? Well, cut them in half and now I have one in my back yard as a planter.
2008
Blinky would buy used oak aging barrels from distillers, fill them with water, wait for seepage from the wood and then dip himself a tall, refreshing Gem jar of so-called "swish," or whisky dregs.
References
- DNE
- COD-2
- Barber (2007)