Up until the end of the 18th century distillation plant consisted only of an evaporation and a condensation unit. The rectification column is an invention of the early 19th century. This article surveys these developments and the advances in alcohol distillation made up to the end of the 19th century. Developments in France, England and Germany are considered separately since different starting materials were used for alcohol production in these three countries. In France the starting material was wine, in England grain, and in Germany potatoes. Wine could be fed directly to the rectification column. Grain first had to be transformed into grain mash before being transferred together with husks to the distillation apparatus. The highly viscous potato mash containing potato pieces and skins produced by a similar process proved particularly hard to handle. The widely varying properties of these raw materials led to development of different equipment in the different countries.