Relating to or containing fusel oil, a mixture of alcohols produced during fermentation that gives alcohol its harsh taste and smell.
From German fusel (bad liquor) combined with English -al suffix. The German word's origin is uncertain but likely relates to poor quality distillation byproducts.
Fusel oils are why cheap whiskey tastes worse than good whiskey—they're the 'congeners' that cause hangovers, and master distillers spend fortunes filtering them out.
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