How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
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How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
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Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#2It's interesting how simple coincidences and accidents can become such a fundamental part of the character of a product.
The peat smoke in Scotch is another good example of this. They only used peat to dry the malt as coke was too expensive and hard to source in Scotland.
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#3The Macallan is kind of a special case of sherry barrel aging nowadays.
Because of US laws that require aging bourbon in new, freshly charred, American oak barrels, a large quantity of the barrels sold to distillers across the globe are "ex bourbon."
So, now, an awful lot of booze out there -- and not just whiskey, but also American brandy and some Caribbean rums -- tastes sorta like bourbon.
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#4I've got a bone to pick with the article - it makes it sound like the Scottish only invented whisky in the beginning of 19th century:
> So it was only a matter of time before the Scots started storing their local moonshine, a clear distillate called uisge beatha (“water of life”), inside them. “Around 1800, distillers in Scotland realized that putting this clear spirit in a barrel not only made financial sense, but also made the liquid look and taste better,”
whereas Scotch whisky has been around for at least 500 years. In the second half of 18th century and early 19th century making distilled spirits was outlawed in Scotland, so, naturally, people turned to moonshining - much less risk in that than storing casks for decades to mature into proper whisky; that's the reason for the prominence of clear spirits.
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#5The Macallan is kind of a special case of sherry barrel aging nowadays. Because of US laws that require aging bourbon in new, freshly charred, American oak barrels, a large quantity of the barrels sold to distillers across the globe are "ex bourbon." So, now, an awful lot of booze out there -- and not just whiskey, but also American brandy and some Caribbean rums -- tastes sorta like bourbon.
Glenmorangie and Balvenie, off the top of my head.
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#6Sherry 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 big trend in Scotch is towards “no age statement” (NAS) bottlings, because Scotland is not keeping up with resurgent global demand. NAS bottles are younger spirits, but tend to have more interesting casks, which is a bonus if sherried whiskies are what you’re into.
For what it’s worth, my mental model is that ex-bourbon casks add basically no flavors other than the wood; I think of them as “neutrally casked”.
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#7The Macallan is kind of a special case of sherry barrel aging nowadays. Because of US laws that require aging bourbon in new, freshly charred, American oak barrels, a large quantity of the barrels sold to distillers across the globe are "ex bourbon." So, now, an awful lot of booze out there -- and not just whiskey, but also American brandy and some Caribbean rums -- tastes sorta like bourbon.
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.
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#8Sherry is definitely underappreciated in the US. One of my favorite aspects of it is how it is poured in Spain. A Venenciador uses a long rod with a thin cup to dip into a cask and pour the sherry into a small glass from high up in the air. This is a regular part of the sampling process in bodegas, but it is also performed at parties, weddings and fancy restaurants. It takes a lot of practice to get good at it, so good Venenciadors can make a living just pouring sherry. Really good Venenciadors can pour accurately over a meter in distance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kcmhtGvsc4
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#9Sherry 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 younger spirits, but tend to have more interesting casks, which is a bonus if sherried whiskies are what you’re into.
Interestingly, Macallan in the US still has an age statement. This, however, is not the case in other countries. They have names instead (like "Ruby").
Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch
#10Sherry 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…
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) used for either aging or short-term finishing.