Is there a spirit as wonderfully diverse as Whisky? With every expression offering up a different aroma, flavour, texture and even colour, it would be a hard argument to counter. Variety is the spice of life – and in regards to our golden subject, we have the relationship between wood and Whisky to thank.
Is there a spirit as wonderfully diverse as Whisky? With every expression offering up a different aroma, flavour, texture and even colour, it would be a hard argument to counter. Variety is the spice of life – and in regards to our golden subject, we have the relationship between wood and Whisky to thank.
What gives Whisky its flavour? There are a number of factors and processes in the Whisky-making life-cycle that influence the tasting notes of the final expression: the process of chill-filtration, distillation, raw ingredients, where Casks are stored, the length of maturation…But, perhaps none quite as significant as the wood chosen to mature the Whisky.
How much the choice of cask influences the end result is hotly debated within the Whisky industry – depending on the distiller or blender questioned, it’s not unusual for wood to be credited for 60-80% of the final flavour!
The making of Scotch Whisky is heavily protected and regulated. As a result, distillers and blenders must follow a strict set of guidelines in order to ensure their Whisky is legal – one such rule is the requirement to mature their products only in oak casks. This means that spirit matured in any other type of wood – e.g. mahogany, could not be labelled as Scotch Whisky.
On the face of it, this may appear to be quite restrictive, however, when considering the abundance of species of oak in existence, terroir, durability, leak prevention and its ability to transpose flavour, the potential to create a truly unique expression is unlimited.
Scotch Whisky is generally matured in either American or European oak. In order to create a certain style or flavour, distillers and blenders will buy casks second-hand that have previously been used to mature other types of alcohol – such as wine or sherry. Over recent years, a growing trend has seen Whisky makers begin to experiment virgin oak (untouched, brand new) casks due to their ability to impart flavour more quickly than those that are “well-lived” in. Unlike with American Bourbon, where casks must only be used once in a brand new state, Scotch Whisky distillers may re-use a cask two or three times until it is deemed to no longer impart the required amount of flavour. At this stage, the casks may be sold on or discarded altogether.
Same distillery, same spirit, same maturation period, same wood but different Whisky? Each individual cask offers up its own specific properties – to establish consistency, distilleries will typically marry together many casks to create a steady product line. However, Whisky labelled as having been charged from a “Single Cask” will have been extracted from just that - only one cask – and as such will offer up tasting notes different to any other Whisky in existence.
As seen with our Exceptional Single Cask range, when Whisky is matured and drawn from a Single Cask, this will typically create a more distinctive, flavoursome palate.
-Douglas Laing & Co
The number of bottles that a Single Cask will yield will be dependent on the type and size of Cask – but regardless of size, because the Whisky has been drawn from a finite source, the number of bottles will always be relatively small, making Single Cask Whisky significantly more desired and covetable. It’s essentially Whisky in its purest form.
That’s not to say that marrying together Single Casks cannot yield superior results. As seen with the Remarkable Regional Malts – our Blended Malt range – master blenders can treat Single Casks as individual musical instruments, of which are then married together create a harmonious orchestra of flavour!
Further flavour can be derived by “finishing” Whisky in a cask of a different origin – a process sometimes referred to as double or secondary maturation. This is the process of maturing Whisky within one cask, and at a later stage of maturation, pouring the contents into a different type of cask for a period of time. The spirit from within a cask will draw out the natural oils of the cask wood, so repeating this process twice can create further flavour. Not all finishes are made equal though – distillers and blenders have to predict a complementary combination.
Casks come in all shapes, sizes and finishes. The availability of a certain type of cask – say, Bourbon can impact the final price of a Whisky. Put simply, some casks can be harder to come by than others due to economic and environmental conditions.
Whisky bottles will usually be labelled with the type of cask it was matured in. Although no two casks are ever the same, they do usually yield similar flavours.
There’s no denying that the relationship between wood and Whisky is pivotal.
Given that a particular Whisky may be destined to mature for many, many years, an investment into the right types of casks is a very weighty decision – one, in fact, that can only ever be made by an exceptionally experienced Whisky master.
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