How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-great-scotch-needs-sherry

by bcaulfield • 8 years ago

115 73 8 years ago

It'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.

HillaryBriss4• 8 years ago

The 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.

hinkley• 8 years ago

Glenmorangie and Balvenie, off the top of my head.

tptacek14• 8 years ago

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.

HillaryBriss4• 8 years ago

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?

dluan3• 8 years ago

It's kind of crazy just how much cheap swill gets sloshed around at minimum time just so that it qualifies the bond - only then to ship the barrels around to other producers for re-aging. IIRC most of barrels from Beam and Brown-Forman?

Lately it seems like there's so many sherry-aged whiskies and whiskey-aged something or other, or first-fill, second-fill, ends up traveling over three continents. Seems like the barrel coopers are the ones doing the best, but even then the wood itself is pretty contentious in terms of quality versus hype.

fraa-orolo• 8 years ago

I'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.

tptacek14• 8 years ago

Sherry 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”.

vowelless• 8 years ago

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").

dhd415• 8 years ago

Or cheaper Glendronach for that matter? It's 40-60% more expensive than Macallan here.

flyinghamster2• 8 years ago

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.

I was going to ask that, as well. :-) In Chicagoland at least, there isn't a huge price difference, though ($67 for Macallan 12, $90 for A'bunadh). On the other hand, last time I had a bottle of A'bunadh, it was in the $60-$65 range.

Fortunately, being cask strength, the A'bunadh bottle can go farther, provided you dilute it properly.

While I like the Speyside style, I like peated Islays as well. I'm interested in the Lagavulin 8 - the 16 is still just a bit too dear (though down in price from a few years ago).

TylerE4• 8 years ago

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.

wheels3• 8 years ago

Glenmorangie isn't sherried unless you get the "La Santa" version, which I don't think is as good as the original, and then it's only finished for two years in sherry casks after the usual maturation in bourbon casks.

Aberlour A'bunadh is great, as noted, as is Glendrodach, but they've run out of 15 year old casks, and the 18 isn't enough better to justify the price hike.

Another favorite is the Bunnahabhain 18, a non-peaty, sherried Islay whisky.

dmurray• 8 years ago

Interestingly, Macallan in the US still has an age statement. This, however, is not the case in other countries.

I wonder if this is because the USA allows it? In a country where you can sell Argentine cheese as Parmesan and Oklahoma beef as being from Kobe, it doesn't seem like a stretch that you could sell 3-year-old coloured vodka as fine 18-year-old Scotch whisky.

raesene93• 8 years ago

interestingly in the UK the prices on those two are pretty much the same (in fact at the moment the Aberlour is a bit cheaper than the Macallan)

magnusmorton• 8 years ago

A'bunadh is 60% ABV, so it's better value if you add water/drink smaller measures

flyinghamster2• 8 years ago

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.

tptacek14• 8 years ago

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).

dluan3• 8 years ago

IMO it seems the boom in various finishes is a response to NAS stuff being the norm and for producers to try and do something different with limited stock.

I've had some wonderful wine finished whiskies - Leoville Barton Green Spot was amazing - and also some horrifying wine finished ones - Chateau Montelena Zinfandel Green Spot was hard to swallow.

For some new producers like Kavalan or Amrut, whose almost entire lines are sherry, ex-bourbon, rum, and port finished casks, it seems like the way to make a dent in the market hype without having to have really good base whiskey.

I'm just waiting for all that noise to be replaced by interesting woods - Quercus Garryana in the PNW of American whiskies is like the IPA of whiskey. Throw in some biology whizzes and the American craft whiskey market is going to be very interesting in the next 10 years.

bradleyjg2• 8 years ago

the smokey peaty Islays tend not to be sherried at all.

Lagavulin, my personal favorite, is the exception.

TylerE4• 8 years ago

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).

TylerE4• 8 years ago

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.

tptacek14• 8 years ago

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.

zaphar2• 8 years ago

Kilchoman is fast rising to the top of my personal list. For the price my goto is their Machir Bay.

stock_toaster3• 8 years ago

my mental model is that ex-bourbon casks add basically no flavors other than the wood; I think of them as “neutrally casked“

Typically vanillas, nuts, toffees, woods, caramels, and some cereal notes (other cereal notes from the barley of course, which oak may not drown out as much as the fruitier sherries).

tptacek14• 8 years ago

Those are all flavors you get when alcohol interacts with charred wood. They're not coming from the bourbon that originally filled the cask, unlike what happens with sherry.

convolvatron• 8 years ago

glenrothes used to be a pretty cheap and easy to drink for people who haven't done alot of scotch. not much complexity.

seanhandley2• 8 years ago

It depends.

If it's a 1st-fill cask you can get a lot of flavour imparted from bourbon. A lot of my favourite "tropical fruit" flavour whiskies come from 1st fill bourbon casks.

tptacek14• 8 years ago

I don't really believe this, maybe just based on the mechanics of how aging work. I know that if you put the same spirit in front of me, one aged in sherry and the other bourbon, the difference will be night-and-day; you could be a first-time scotch drinker and easily have a strong preference (Aberlour does this at the distillery tour). I also know that the difference between new oak and 1st fill is enormous, because I have the Woodford demo where new oak is dark and woody and 1st fill is blonde and much less flavorful.

What I think is that if you did a triangle test between 1st and refill ex-bourbon, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

maaarghk2• 8 years ago

On NAS bottlings: My girlfriend is in the Scotch whisky industry and tells me that among some circles, Compass Box's "transparency campaign" has been gaining some supporters.

Occasionally, (apparently) you'll find a NAS is actually comprised 80% of some 18 year old or 25 year old stuff but the master blender has added some 5 year old (say) not because of shortage but because it improves flavour. Of course then you need to sell that either as a 5 year old blended whisky or not mention its age at all. Frustrating for marketers and consumers alike, because one person can't say what they are selling other than the promise of high quality, and the other side has no real idea what they are buying (because the marketing would claim high quality regardless).

A few years back Compass Box, finding themselves in this situation, published the full recipe for one of their blends online (not even on the packaging) and this was found to be in contravention of EU regulations. They launched a campaign to have this rule relaxed in the case where full recipes are posted.

Another side to it is that the current rules might be considered by some to give an unfair advantage to your massive conglomerates i.e. Diageo and Pernod-Ricard who have massive purchasing power over the "old stuff".

I see both sides of the argument: on the one hand it's hard to feel like people are misled by a full and accurate recipe being posted. But maybe it carries with it that because your blend is comprised <qualitatively high number>% 18 year old then your average consumer might decide it is of comparable quality to a straight 18 year old even if you've mixed in some paint thinner.

My take is that Compass Box's particular situation is different than that of the distillers as they blend off the shelf whisky. They would be saying "we blended 18 year old Glenlivet with 12 year old macallan" as opposed to "we took some of an 18 year old cask and some of a 12 year old cask" - I think it's less clear that the latter is a recipe than the former.

(All this isn't to say lack of stock isn't a problem - it is and it is the main reason for NAS - just not always the only reason.)

raesene93• 8 years ago

For me, the problem of NAS is that it breaks the easy marketing message of older==pricier . That used to be an eas'ish way to justify high prices for various bottles.

Now you have a situation where it can be just marketing fluff that causes a large increase in cost, which could lead to a market for lemons emerging...

valar_k• 8 years ago

While A'bunadh is great, try Macallan Classic Cut if there is still any in your area. Almost all Macallan is over-hyped and over-priced, but Macallan CC is a fantastic cask strength sherry bomb at around $70-80 that handily beats out A'bunadh (which is saying a lot!)

I'd also recommend Clynelish 14 as an entry level sherried scotch. The Signatory Vintage releases of Clynelish distillate tend to be a bit more ($90-140) but are some of the best scotch money can buy in my opinion.

Semaphor• 8 years ago

Aberlour A’bunadh is amazing, sadly it's almost always not available here (GER) whenever I'm in the market for getting a new bottle.

zaphar2• 8 years ago

I personally prefer the Islay style of scotch to the Speysides. I'm all about the smokey peaty stuff. But I have friends who prefer the sherried style. If you didn't like your first taste of scotch one of the other styles may be more to your liking. Unless you just don't like strong spirits. In which case you probably won't like most whiskeys.

peterwwillis2• 8 years ago

Sherry 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

jackhack• 8 years ago

Interesting it's so firmly a part of the ritual of serving sherry. But then aeration is known to improve the flavours of many types of spirits and even electronic wine bottle toppers are available to spin the air.

toomanybeersies2• 8 years ago

A classic trick in restaurants for serving older red wines that need to breath a bit is to just pour it through a sieve when pouring it into the decanter (it should be poured into a decanter to pour it off the sediment in the bottle) to aerate the wine.

yawgmoth• 8 years ago

At 2:02 the woman deliberately shakes a bit out of the glass. Fascinating. Why?

dustinkirkland• 8 years ago

I do love single malt scotch whisky.

But I will say...Sherry by itself is totally underated.

I spent a week in Jerez a few years ago studying Sherry and it is truly an art.

If you like Single Malt and Sour Beer, you owe it to yourself to seek out a Sherry bar and explore the magic of Fino, Amontillado, and the ever evasive Palo Cortado.

tptacek14• 8 years ago

The tough thing about sherry is that it doesn’t keep. I can keep 5-6 different interesting whiskeys in my house for months, but a sherry bottle has to get drunk within a week.

We had a restaurant in Chicago, Vera, with a huge sherry list. It was kind a of a miracle; I’d rather go there than to Longman with their equivalently long whiskey list. Gone now though :(.

dboreham2• 8 years ago

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.

maaarghk2• 8 years ago

Harris?

dboreham2• 8 years ago

Unfortunately no. It turns out there's a distillery in Fife now : https://www.kingsbarnsdistillery.com/

lox• 8 years ago

I mean, that’s because it’s only ~65% pure ethanol. If you ran it through a column still a few more times, it would taste exactly like pure ethanol.

taurath2• 8 years ago

Some of the most lovely bourbons I’ve had recently are port barrel aged, so this isn’t a surprise!

tptacek14• 8 years ago

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.

wavedynamics• 8 years ago

Angels Envy - port barrel finished - is one of my favorites.

stock_toaster3• 8 years ago

Balvenie also has a 21yo portwood.

taurath2• 8 years ago

Local one in the Pacific Northwest - Cadee distillery Cascadia

seanhandley2• 8 years ago

For me, a great whisky is "spirit led" i.e. the flavour is dominated by the flavours present in the spirit itself before maturation.

It's difficult and expensive to make a really good "spirit led" whisky so many distilleries use casks as a way to imbue more flavours. Of course, a good cask helps (and you can't have whisky without casks) but beware of marketing departments trying to bamboozle you with fancy barrels.

The real art is in the distillation itself.

beilabs• 8 years ago

For those interested in an Irish version check out Green Spot and Red Breast. Some of my favourites...

How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch

Related Stories