One thing to know : I had always had the idea that Whisky tasted basically of the barrel, with the implication that the stuff put in the barrel doesn't taste of much -- like pure ethanol. This turns out to be not the case. I happened to visit a distillery where they let you drink the liquid straight out the still (that, in turn, because this particular distillery hasn't been in business long enough to have final product ready to sell). I was surprised to find that the distillate liquor tasted very much like Whisky.
How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
21–30 of 74 posts
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
It tastes sort of like American oak, but not so much like bourbon. To a first approximation, everything not aged in Sherry butts has basically always been aged in ex bourbon casks, and lots of Scotch varieties have never been sherried.
> To a first approximation, everything not aged in Sherry butts has basically always been aged in ex bourbon casks ... What historical evidence supports the notion that rum and brandy were, even to a first approximation, basically always aged in ex bourbon casks?
Scotch. All the scotches. I'm not talking about rum and brandy (I am however at this minute getting tipsy on a pretty amazing Plantation rum aged in cognac barrels, so I guess I could nerd out on rum a bit too --- though all I know about rum is "buy the Plantation rums that are aged in interesting barrels").
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#23Some of the most lovely bourbons I’ve had recently are port barrel aged, so this isn’t a surprise!
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#24Some of the most lovely bourbons I’ve had recently are port barrel aged, so this isn’t a surprise!
Which one? The only wine barrel bourbon I've had is High West's Midwinter. I'd be interested in other ones.
Kilchoman's port cask Scotch is really amazing.
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
A great deal of the flavoring from bourbon casks goes into the bourbon. American straight whiskeys always require new, charred oak. Hmmm, I wonder if any Scotch gets aged in casks that were used for rye whiskey, and how much difference there would be compared to a bourbon cask? Scotch can be aged in any oak, new or previously used, and more recently, there have been other types of casks (such as port, or French oak)…
I doubt there would be much difference between ex-rye and ex-bourbon. The first fill of American spirit strips most of the flavor out of the barrel and doesn’t leave really anything behind. (There’s a cool Woodford Reserve demo bottling you can get that demonstrates this).
In Scotland, ex bourbon barrels go through a process of "rejuvenation" to expose flavor bearing compounds still found deeper in the wood:
"... why not scrape out the inside of the cask and toast it again? After toasting the cask is charred anew, and voilà: You have a new, activated cask. ... A bourbon cask, used for 2 to 4 years in the USA, can be used for another 30 years in Scotland."
https://www.whisky.com/information/knowledge/production/deta...
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#26Sherry is the reason people like Macallan, but: * lots of Scotch has no sherry, and, particularly, the smokey peaty Islays tend not to be sherried at all. Sherried Scotch is a distinctive style, mostly centered in Speyside. * There are better, cheaper sherry bomb whiskies than Macallan; try Aberlour A’bunadh (cheap, excellent) and Glendronach (still substantially cheaper than Macallan, and I think much better). The b…
> Aberlour A’bunadh Where are you getting cheap Aberlour A'bunadh?? It's my favorite scotch but I cannot find it for less than 2 to 3 times the price of Macallan 12. Also, Glenmorangie is a delicious sherry scotch. Tastes a lot like Macallan and usually cheaper. > The big trend in Scotch is towards “no age statement” (NAS) bottlings, because Scotland is not keeping up with resurgent global demand. NAS bottles are you…
Even here in the ABC state of NC A'bunadh is readily available and goes for about $87+tax. Macallan 12 is about$65-70.
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#27Sherry is the reason people like Macallan, but: * lots of Scotch has no sherry, and, particularly, the smokey peaty Islays tend not to be sherried at all. Sherried Scotch is a distinctive style, mostly centered in Speyside. * There are better, cheaper sherry bomb whiskies than Macallan; try Aberlour A’bunadh (cheap, excellent) and Glendronach (still substantially cheaper than Macallan, and I think much better). The b…
> the smokey peaty Islays tend not to be sherried at all. Lagavulin, my personal favorite, is the exception.
If you like the regular Lagavulin, try to get your hands on the Distiller's Edition, which has a much higher Sherry cask content.
Ardbeg Uigaedail is another with the magic peat+sherry combo, and it's cask strength to boot (Typically about 115 proof).
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or cheaper Glendronach for that matter? It's 40-60% more expensive than Macallan here.
Than Mac 12! Yeah, sorry: Mac 12 is probably a good value. The comparison I’m always seeing made is to Mac 18. (Actually, Binny’s current Mac 12 price in Chicago appears to be higher than Abunadh or Dronach 12 [which is fantastic]).
I wouldn't really call anything Macallan good value. For a basic sherried whiskey Aberlour 12 is just about as good, for substantially less, and for what Macallan 12 goes for these days you have tons of (imo) more interesting/better options.
I will say I had a dram of the 18 in a bar once, and it was indeed very very good, but I can't really justify spending ~$250 bottle for it.
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#29Sherry is the reason people like Macallan, but: * lots of Scotch has no sherry, and, particularly, the smokey peaty Islays tend not to be sherried at all. Sherried Scotch is a distinctive style, mostly centered in Speyside. * There are better, cheaper sherry bomb whiskies than Macallan; try Aberlour A’bunadh (cheap, excellent) and Glendronach (still substantially cheaper than Macallan, and I think much better). The b…
Lots of Islay distilleries are doing good stuff with sherry casks these days (and also other ex-fortified wine casks).
The Kilchoman distillery is doing some really fascinating stuff, but they've only been open a decade or so it's mostly NAS stuff, but it gets rave reviews.
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#30Sherry is the reason people like Macallan, but: * lots of Scotch has no sherry, and, particularly, the smokey peaty Islays tend not to be sherried at all. Sherried Scotch is a distinctive style, mostly centered in Speyside. * There are better, cheaper sherry bomb whiskies than Macallan; try Aberlour A’bunadh (cheap, excellent) and Glendronach (still substantially cheaper than Macallan, and I think much better). The b…
Lots of Islay distilleries are doing good stuff with sherry casks these days (and also other ex-fortified wine casks). The Kilchoman distillery is doing some really fascinating stuff, but they've only been open a decade or so it's mostly NAS stuff, but it gets rave reviews.
I've had Kilchoman's port cask and loved it, and brought a bottle of their madeira cask to take with on my vacation --- I like it a lot, though not as much as the port cask. I feel like --- but am probably wrong --- super fancy casks are a relatively new thing in Islay whisky.
I think NAS is a positive step for the whole industry.