NOVELTY - Recovery (M1) of butanol from mixture of water-immiscible organic extractant, water, butanol and optionally non-condensable gas involves: introducing feed comprising: water-immiscible organic extractant, water, isomer of butanol, and optionally non-condensable gas into first distillation column; condensing first vaporous overhead stream and recover first mixed condensate; introducing portion of the aqueous phase to first column; introducing first portion of butanol phase into second distillation column; and introducing first portion of first bottoms stream into second column.    USE - For recovery of butanol from a mixture of water-immiscible organic extractant, water, butanol and optionally a non-condensable gas (claimed); as a fuel additive, as a blend component to diesel fuel, as a feedstock chemical in the plastics industry, and as a foodgrade extractant in the food and flavor industry; as biofuel or fuel additive.    ADVANTAGE - The butanol recovery process is run for extended periods without equipment fouling or repeated shutdowns. The method is energy efficient and provide high purity butanol product having little color; is free of water and the extractant. The butanol recovered has the potential of impacting hydrogen distribution problems in the emerging fuel cell industry. The obtained butanol is easily reformed for its hydrogen content and can be distributed through existing gas stations in the purity required for either fuel cells or vehicles. The method recover butanol obtained from plant derived carbon sources, avoiding the negative environmental impact associated with standard petrochemical processes for butanol production. In the method, distillation scheme in which the separation of butanol and extractant is made prior to the final separation of butanol and water, thus method require less energy per unit weight of butanol obtained. The method, provide high purity butanol having little or no color. The second bottoms stream comprising the extractant is free of the butanol product, which contributes to high yield in the recovery process. Being free of butanol also enables optional recycling of the second bottoms stream comprising the extractant to the fermentative process. Being free of butanol also simplifies the stream's disposition, which is not recycled.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Recovery (M1) of butanol from a mixture of water-immiscible organic extractant, water, butanol and optionally a non-condensable gas involves: introducing a feed comprising: i) a water-immiscible organic extractant, ii) water, iii) at least one isomer of butanol, and iv) optionally a non-condensable gas into a first distillation column; condensing the first vaporous overhead stream to produce a gas phase and recover a first mixed condensate, where the first mixed condensate comprises butanol phase comprising butanol and water (less than 30 wt.%); and an aqueous phase comprising water and butanol (less than 10 wt.%); introducing at least a portion of the aqueous phase to the first distillation column; introducing a first portion of the butanol phase into a second distillation column having at least a stripping section; and introducing a first portion of the first bottoms stream into a second distillation column having at least a stripping section and optionally a rectifying section and operating the second distillation column to produce a second bottoms stream comprising the extractant and being free of butanol, and second vaporous overhead stream comprising butanol, where the extractant preferentially dissolves butanol over water and is separable from butanol by distillation. The first distillation column comprises a stripping section and optionally a rectifying section at an introduction point above the stripping section. The first distillation column has an operating temperature (Ti) and operating pressure (Pi) at a predetermined point in the stripping section, where the (Ti) and (Pi) are selected to produce a first bottoms stream and a first vaporous overhead stream. The first bottoms stream comprises the water-immiscible organic extractant and water and being free of butanol, and the first vaporous overhead stream comprises water, butanol, and the optional non-condensable gas.