Re: chemical composition (organic) of alcohol & effect of maturing on it

Aging or maturing doesn't affect ethanol itself. What it does is mellow the
flavors associated with the "impurities" (the things other than alcohol and 
water) in wine, beer, whisky and so forth. Often the mellowing happens because
the beverage is aged in a particular type of container (such as oaken barrels)
which leach flavoring agents _into_ the drink and perhaps absorb some of the
harsher flavors.

There is no chemical effect on the substance ethanol (or on the substance 
water, for that matter). There is also no effect on how drunk you can get, 
that's strictly a function of the quantity of ethanol consumed. You can get 
just as drunk on a given quantity of Chateau Mouton Rothschilds as you can 
on Ripple (assuming that they have the same alcohol content).

                                              Dan Berger