The shape is meant to enhance the aromas of fine whisk(e)y, and I find it does that job well.” Kristen Voisey, the owner of Cocktail Emporium and the brand’s glassware designer, agrees: “This is the standard tasting glass used at most distilleries. “You can see the spirits well-the glass tapers towards the top to concentrate the smell when you nose it, and the stem removes any unintentional heat to the spirit.” “The ideal glass, so I've been told by many whisk(e)y distillers, for tasting is a stemmed glass that has a wider base than the nose, like ISO or Cordial glass,” explains Goodfellow. Each 6-ounce glass is designed to show off the color and the aroma of the spirit. These Glencairn glasses are beloved by whiskey drinkers as they concentrate the aromas-something a rocks glass does not. “A Glencairn glass really lets you fully appreciate the notes you get on the nose and the layering of the flavors.” And, don't forget to check out our range of single cask whiskies here."I'm quite stuck on the traditional Glencairn glass,” describes Nicole Ross, the head bartender of New York City's The Chester. For further reading, you may enjoy our article on " how to make your own whiskey in five steps". I hope this has been helpful! If you need expert help on buying and selling casks of whisky then visit our friends at Spiritfilled here. While barrels, hogsheads, and butts are the three most common casks used in cask maturation, there are other cask types too - each with different capacities, different typical maturation periods, and in some cases different flavour profiles (for example sherry versus port). By contrast, a larger cask like a butt means a lower wood to spirit ration, and a longer, more gradual, maturation period. This means the flavours mature more quickly, and a short maturation time is needed. A smaller cask like a barrel means that there is a great ratio of wood to spirit - there’s more surface area for the liquid to interact with the wood. But the other important difference is in maturation times. Sherry is often matured in butts, and in the same way that the scotch industry reuses barrels from the bourbon industry, so too do Scottish distilleries import butts from the sherry bodegas.Ĭlearly these different sizes of casks means differing amounts of whisky. That makes butts twice as large as a hogshead, and two and a half times the size of a barrel. It's not unusual for these casks to have held another liquid, like sherry, prior to being used in whisky maturation - and you may have come across the term ‘sherry hogshead’.Ī butt can hold approximately 475-500 litres of whisky (302-350 litres of pure alcohol). They are often made from staves from bourbon barrels, reworked by coopers into this larger format. Hogsheads are around 20-25% larger than a barrel. While American distilleries can’t reuse these casks, the Scotch industry not only can, but very commonly does.Ī hogshead can hold approximately 225-250 litres of whisky (142-185 litres of pure alcohol). Barrels are a by-product of bourbon production, as the American whiskey industry stipulates that virgin oak has been used. The three most common casks used in Scotch maturation reflect both legal requirements and availability of the casks.Ī barrel can hold approximately 190-220 litres of whisky (120-140 litres of pure alcohol) they’re sometimes called an American standard barrel, or a bourbon barrel. This includes size, with casks broadly falling within the range of 200 to 650 litres. This is so important to whisky that it's often written into law for example, American whiskey has to be matured in virgin oak casks, and scotch has to be matured in oak casks of specific kinds, like ex sherry.īut while certain aspects of cask maturation are written into the rule book, there is still a lot of variety. During this time, new make spirit is matured in oak vessels - commonly called “casks”. All single malt whisky is stored in warehouses, such as a dunnage warehouse, for a period of time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |