Cask Finishing has become extremely popular recently. Around half of every new release of single malt seems to have been 'finished' in something exotic and enticing. The process of finishing a whisky involves re-barreling the spirit from its primary maturation cask, into something different. The cask used for 'finishing' is often noteworthy. We'll look at those in favour ? including Glenmorangie and Bruichladdich ? and those who oppose the technique.
Single malt whisky maturation is, almost without exception, done in second hand barrels. The reason for this is that, whilst they are often full bodied, single malt whisky is easily overpowered by fresh oak. It all becomes tannic and bitter and thoroughly unpleasant. Historically, ex bourbon and ex sherry casks have been used for whisky maturation. Both provide a ready market. After the original spirit has been matured in the barrel and emptied, a little portion will remain. This inevitably imparts some character to the whisky that is filled into the barrel next.
Bruichladdich is a notable distiller who is bravely going where no distiller has gone before in the field of cask finishing. They've released a great number of expressions over the last few years, most of which have been finished in an exotic cask. The Bruichladdich team even came up with the term ACE'd (Additional Cask Enhancement). It's as thrilling as it sounds, and some of their superb examples include the 1984 Redder Still ? a whisky whose finish was so dramatic it gave the spirit a colour worth noting. Yes, Redder is a 22 year old whisky, and a limited release one too, that was finished in wine casks that previously held maturing Chateau Lafleur Pomerol. Aside from the red colour, the wine casks also imparted flavours of crisp berry fruits, spicy oak and juicy fruit. Bruichladdich also released the First Growth series ? a range of six limited release whiskies finished in barrels which came from the top vineyards in Bordeaux. Good examples include a Chateau Lafite finish and a Chateau D'Yquem finish.
Glenmorangie and Glen Moray are both firm advocates of cask finishing. The Glen Moray distillery is a champion in the field of white wine finishing, with a notable Chardonnay Finish. Glenmorangie have an excellent range of finished whiskies, including the delicious Quinta Ruban ? finished in port wood, and the Nectar D'Or finished in Sauternes Barrels.
Some of the industry are against the idea of cask finishing, claiming it is for publicity, or to cover up poor quality whisky, or that it's just plain untraditional. Glenfarclas is a distillery that has maintained their proud traditions, shying away from cask finishing, and letting their spirit speak for itself. They use, almost without exception, top quality sherry casks. This gives Glenfarclas whisky a juicy, rich character.
Both those in favour and those against offer good arguments. It is, perhaps, fair to say that it is often done for publicity. But one can argue that publicity is hardly a bad thing ? we need to keep the industry alive, after all. Whisky drinkers have changed; so many different people are enjoying single malt whisky, and remaining entirely traditional is not always possible. We have to innovate to keep an age old industry fresh. It's not exactly untraditional either, for historically the single malt distillers would mature their whisky in what was to hand. They used bourbon and sherry casks as they were a financially sound source of barrels; it wasn't done for 'integrity'. Perhaps it is also occasionally done to cover up a once poor whisky. But making something poor into something better can only be a good thing. It boils down to the fact that industry thrives on innovation, yes it's not always traditional, but great things often come from experimentation. Whisky is an art of creation after all, and who's to say where one can be creative and where one cannot.
All of the whiskies mentioned in this article are available from Master of Malt.
Darren Seabrook has been tasting malt whisky for over 20 years. One of his favourites at the moment is Tomatin whisky, a single cask single malt whisky.
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