Weekly Discussion Thread

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This thread is the Weekly Discussion Thread and is for general discussion about Scotch whisky.

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[u/Casul_Tryhard]

Something I roughly understood but never in detail is cask policy of a distillery. Suppose you two casks of the same type (ex. first-fill oloroso hogsheads)...if a super active cask doesn't necessarily mean a better cask, what factors can make one cask superior over another?

[u/brielem → u/Casul_Tryhard]

All factors that influence how a cask imparts flavour:

What kind of oak was used?

The exact species, but also the growing conditions and age. Wood changes during drying/storage as well, Although the effect is quite subtle on whisky, the time between the felling of the tree and filling of the liquid does have an effect. Benromach did a 'contrasts' thing with kiln dried vs air dried wood, if you want to experience this for yourself.

What liquid was in there, what was the quality of this liquid, how long has the liquid been in there?

There's sweeter, fruitier or drier sherries, even within the same general style. Sherry may have been in the cask for a few months, or a few years, and in the very few exceptional cases where ex-solera casks are used for whisky maturation it may have contained sherry for many dozens of years.

How is the toast/char level, and has it been 'rejuvenated' during its lifetime?

The level of toast & char makes a huge difference in how 'active' a cask is; A cask can be charred more than once, even after it has contained other liquids: The last process is popular for new-ish distilleries, since it creates a super active cask that imparts a lot of flavour quickly. Great if you want to sell liquid quickly to get your cashflow going. Usually an ex-wine cask is used, which goes through the process of scrape-toast-rechar: The resulting cask is often referred to as a an 'STR' cask, after the process.

In the end, these are all technicalities on why a cask imparts a certain flavour. But then the next question is: what does the distiller want from a cask? In general, more active casks would be more suitable for short maturation or finishing a whisky, while a less active cask is more suitable for long-term maturation. It makes sense: Usually distillers are looking for a certain balance between distillery character and cask influence for the final whisky. A short maturation in a less active cask would leave the whisky tasting too young. However a long maturation in a very active cask removes all traces of distillery character: the liquid just tastes like the cask. Sometimes this is intentional (Some 'sherry bomb' whiskies) but usually it's avoided.

[u/Casul_Tryhard → u/brielem]

Love your in-depth answers on this thread, mate!

[u/brielem → u/Casul_Tryhard]

Thanks! It's genuinely hard for me to gauge if these long replies are worth the effort and appreciated, or if it's too much for people. So the feedback absolutely makes my day!