Daddy's Dram

Anyone who has been following this blog knows that my favourite reason for drinking a good whisky is a special occasion. Instead of popping open a bottle of champagne I prefer to crack open a bottle of whisky, often one that has been staring at me for some time from the shelf in my home. This also means that special bottles will have been purchased in advance of significant occasions, and these will often be more expensive or rare bottles that add to the fun and memory of the moment. Given that taste and smell are strongly associated with memory, a distinctive dram of a fine whisky not only adds something to that occasion in the present, but can conjure back memories of those special times by tasting that particular whisky again in the future.

The birth of my daughter, Melody, in August of this year has trumped any other special occasion since my wedding back in 2007. So which bottle did your blogger choose to celebrate her entry into the world? This is the story of that special bottle...

A trip to Scotland back in the summer of 2004 with a close friend (also a whisky fan) allowed me to participate in nine different distillery tours. We also visited three others but were not able to take tours. Our original plans didn’t include so many distillery tours, but whisky is such an integral part of Scottish culture that they can be hard to avoid (even if one were …ahem, really trying). I’d be lying if I said that our three day stay on Islay wasn’t planned with whisky in mind, but it was a wonderful surprise to experience how those distilleries infuse the distinct culture of the island and the sense of pride they instill in the Isleachs.

Of the nine distillery tours that we took, two allowed us to bottle our own whisky straight from the cask: Aberlour and Bruichladdich. I think that more distilleries have since introduced this practice into their tours, but at the time it seemed very novel and special. Given the limits on alcohol volume allowed duty-free back into Canada (1.14L), and the fact that we were backpacking, the bottles to be brought home were chosen with great care.

Bruichladdich was the second distillery we visited in Scotland (after Oban), and the first on Islay. I have been a huge fan of their whiskies ever since participating in a tasting event earlier in 2004 hosted by their CEO, Mr. Mark Reynier, at a wine and spirits festival in Montreal. He was both charming and engaging in conversation, guiding us through the myriad pleasures of Bruichladdich whiskies and encouraging us all to visit the distillery should we ever find ourselves on Islay. Never being one to turn down a personal invitation from the director of a distillery, I resolved from that day to visit Bruichladdich.

After settling into our B&B accommodations in Port Ellen, my friend and I made our way west across Islay, past the town of Bowmore to the Bruichladdich distillery, avoiding the odd sheep that make their way onto the roads. It was a beautiful, scenic drive with the coasts of Laggan Bay and then Loch Indaal on our left and huge grassy fields with their precious peat hidden underneath on our right. After arriving at the distillery, we spent some time admiring the coast of Loch Indaal (right across the street) before entering the visitor’s centre. Bruichladdich is a beautiful old distillery that has stayed true to its roots. It is one of the few remaining distilleries in Scotland that still has its own bottling facility on-site. It also does specially selected bottlings of other malts for its Murray McDavid Independent Bottling division.

We were given a dram of the Bruichladdich 10-y-o while waiting for the distillery tour. This gave us the chance to peruse the visitor’s centre and see the various Bruichladdich whiskies and related merchandise for sale. Your blogger used the opportunity to pick up a pewter flask. The tour itself was a truly international experience, as our group of 10 visitors included Germans, Japanese, Americans, British and Canadians. Touring a smaller distillery like Bruichladdich is a great way to learn how Scotch whisky is made, as you really get to observe each step in the process and how everything is done in-house. It is readily apparent that they are not interested in expansion at the cost of tradition and authenticity.

After the tour, it was back to the visitor’s centre. Time to bottle that cask of whisky! The whisky used in these tourist bottlings is chosen by the Master Distiller, Mr. Jim McEwan and these special “Valinch” expressions all have their own story. They are not for sale outside of the distillery, and thus available only to visitors on these tours. That day, they were finishing a cask of the “Flora McBabe”, a sherry-finished Bruichladdich whisky celebrating the life of a very prolific Isleach pig. Watching them empty out the last spirit from that cask, filtering out the large, dark wood bits with a cheesecloth, all while drinking drams of that whisky with my best friend and other big whisky fans from around the world was pure magic.

It would be 5 years later, almost to the day, that I would taste Flora McBabe again, sharing a dram with my beautiful and exhausted wife and toasting the birth of our baby girl. Tired as we both were, the taste of Flora instantly whisked my mind back to that day at Bruichladdich; the salty tang of an Islay breeze mixing indelibly with the tears of joy we shed welcoming Melody Emma to the world.

No Excuse Required

"Formerly every event was made an occasion for drinking. If it was raining, it was 'we'll have a dram to keep out the wet'; if it was cold, 'we'll have a dram to keep out the cold'; and if it was a fine day, why then 'we'll 'drink to its health'".

- J.A. MacCulloch

A wonderful way to become more comfortable drinking whisky is to incorporate it into other activities surrounding your life. Much like having a coffee can become a relaxing experience by association; a dram of whisky can be a nice way to unwind after a long day, such as having a nightcap before bedtime. Although a bottle of whisky is a great way to commemorate a special occasion, the mundane routine of everyday life can also be spiced up with a nice drink now and then. In my opinion, one of the great advantages of spirits over wine is that you can keep an open bottle for a long time, having a drink once in awhile over a period of weeks or months (if not years). Although air in an open bottle will start to affect the spirit over time, it will still be good for quite a while. A couple of years ago, over the course of a brutally cold winter, I went through a bottle of Talisker 10 y-o simply by having a dram every night while reading a series of novels. This is a great way to become familiar with any particular malt, bottling, or expression; by drinking small amounts routinely over a short period of time (weeks to months). It took about 7 consecutive nights/drams before I started really appreciating the dark chocolate notes in the taste of Talisker that I hadn’t noticed previously by having isolated drams every once in awhile.

Bars and pubs can also be great places to try different whiskies on a more random basis and provide a much cheaper alternative to buying a bottle of something you may be unfamiliar with. There are some real diamonds in the rough when it comes to whisky bars. Establishments that specialize in whisky will have increased selection, but the drinks themselves will be more expensive as these places are fully aware of the value and rarity of their stock. If you can find a nice pub that doesn’t specialize in whisky, but happens to have 5 or 6 nice bottles, you can often get a really good deal. These bottles are often due to the past or present employment of a bartender who is a whisky fan, and was able to convince management to purchase some good whisky. My friends and I were able to find a small pub on the West Island of Montreal that sold drams of Oban 14 y-o for $4CDN, as opposed to the $12 that was being charged at some of the Irish pubs downtown. In general, good whisky is quite expensive in bars and something you probably won't be ordering signficant quantities of.

In making the decision on whether or not to have a dram when out on the town, I find it useful to think of it more in terms of coffee than say, beer. In other words, the sorts of conditions that one would make one think of having coffee (other than to wake up) are often good for whisky drinking, too; some examples being: After dinner with dessert, on a cold afternoon with a good book in front of a fire, out with friends for a couple of drinks and conversation, etc. These are all great whisky appreciation moments. Whisky tends to warm you up, so a hot summer afternoon after playing volleyball on the beach is probably not the best time for peat-fueled firewater in the belly! I’m talking about drinking straight whisky here, but there are lots of mixed drinks using whisky served cold that would fit the bill. Alternatively, if you prefer your whisky “on the rocks” (with ice), that will also temper its heat a little bit.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a Biosciences trade show in Fredericton, New Brunswick. This was a part of Canada’s National Biosciences Week and it involved exhibits from biotech companies within the province as well as a couple of seminars on building biotechnology infrastructure. I was there representing my employers and since the show ended late afternoon, when it was over I headed to Fredericton’s best whisky bar: The Lunar Rogue. I’ll do another post later specifically on the Rogue, but suffice it to say that its regular list of 200+ different malts has gained it an international reputation as a whisky bar, including a shout-out from Whisky Magazine. Perusing their substantial whisky menu, I settled on a dram of Lochside (bottled 1991), an Eastern Highland distillery that closed back in 1991.

After being served my whisky (in a glencairn glass, no less – good on the Rogue), I mentally reviewed the contacts and conversations made over the course of the day. It was a sunny and warm late summer afternoon, so it was the perfect time to relax on the patio of the Rogue and watch both foot and vehicle traffic pass by on King street. How was the Lochside? Not great, but not bad and certainly better than if I had been drinking it in my living room and really critically analyzing it. No tasting notes for this one. Sometimes it’s nice to just relax with a dram and enjoy the context as much as the drink itself.

(Not) Just Desserts - Auchentoshan 12 year-old

An important occasion to celebrate provides the best excuse (er, reason) to open a new bottle of whisky. When my friend Jeff turned 30 a couple of weeks ago, it seemed the perfect opportunity to celebrate his three decades of life by encouraging his nascent interest in the water of life. My wife and I spent some time discussing which bottle would make the most appropriate gift; we wanted a single malt that was out of the ordinary (to help pique his interest), but nothing too strong, that might turn him off or limit his enjoyment of the drink. This has proven to be the bane of many whisky enthusiasts when trying to lure (does that have a negative connotation?) their friends into the world of whisky appreciation: Going too strong too fast. In our zest to share our love of aqua vitae with novices, we can push the stronger tasting stuff too quickly: You like a bit of peat? Here, try some Ardbeg!

Slow down, cowboys. Although we all experience the just the teensiest bit of schadenfreude when watching a novice experience the uniquely startling pleasures of tasting a heavily peated malt for the first time, chances are you didn’t start off that way, either. In my opinion, it’s much better to ease in to the heavy hitters after acquiring a palate and appreciation for the lighter stuff. You don’t lead off with your strongest batter, right? With these things in mind, we decided to pick him up a bottle of Auchentoshan 12 y-o.

Auchentoshan is a lowland distillery located very near Glasgow, Scotland. Although the vast majority of Scottish distilleries perform two consecutive distillations in the production of their spirit, Auchentoshan does three. This triple-distillation process is more characteristic of Irish distilleries, and results in a cleaner, lighter spirit. This is due to the loss of oilier, heavier flavours and character during the extended distillation process. In this way, Auchentoshan is very representative of“traditional” lowland malts, in that it has more of a light, floral character than the majority of malts from other regions of Scotland.

In this highly-anticipated (by us) cross-over event with our friends from the food blog “A Foodie’s Thoughts”, Amanda created a pecan pie recipe substituting the Auchentoshan 12 y-o in place of the more traditional bourbon. The result: Delicious! Amanda used slightly more whisky than in the usual recipes, in anticipation that the lighter flavours of Auchentoshan may be muted somewhat in the pie. It proved to be a good decision, as the flavours of the whisky blended so well with the pie that in smaller amounts they may have been lost. The pie was a big hit and your blogger couldn’t help but imagine future pies using other, more strongly flavoured malts! Note that although it is the Auchentoshan Select Reserve pictured in the photo with the pie, it is the 12 y-o (first photo) that was used in the recipe. Make sure you check out the companion blog posting at “A Foodie’s Thoughts” for more info on this dish.

http://www.afoodiesthoughts.blogspot.com/

As for the whisky, we do two separate tastings – one before the Auchentoshan-laced pecan pie and one afterwards. The tasting notes that follow represent an effort by four different people and anything described was at least corroborated by two within the group.

Nose: Toffee, vanilla, dried figs and a fresh floweriness of heather with honey. Just a whiff of smoke.

Taste: Starts sweet at the tip of the tongue with some nuttiness, then a crisp, peppery middle. Good complexity and lots of light, subtle flavours to explore with this bottle. Unfortunately, the flavour is somewhat bitter at the end.

Palate: Medium body, a little oily with nice legs on the glass. The finish is interesting: Initially we thought it was short, but then realized that although the taste intensity drops off quickly, a shadow of it remains on the tongue for a long time.

Value: It scores well in this category, not because it is a phenomenal whisky, but because it is not very expensive. It certainly compares well to whiskies in this price range (~$55-70 CDN), while offering a different flavour profile than most of the others.

The Auchentoshan 12 y-o was a pleasant surprise, offering more complexity and character than I was expecting from a triple-distilled, lowland malt. On the negative side, although the finish starts strong it fades quickly and there is some bitterness. Overall, we were very pleased with the bottle and it was a great expression to start with as a foundation for future whisky appreciation. As Amanda’s pie displayed, this whisky is well suited not only to accompany a dessert, but as an ingredient. Both Amanda and Jeff are interested in doing more tastings and inventing other recipes using whisky, so any way you slice it (ha ha), the Auchentoshan 12 y-o was an unqualified success!

Special thanks to Amanda at "A Foodie's Thoughts"

A Surprise Vintage

It's not very often that I receive emails at work regarding whisky, and this one in particular was a pleasant surprise. A co-worker forwarded me the following article from The Times-Transcript, our local paper here in Moncton, New Brunswick:

http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/news/article/807160

Suffice it to say that we required no further invitation and spent our lunch hour (and maybe a little extra) at the NewBrunswick Liquor Commission store on Vaughan Harvey boulevard in Moncton. Not really knowing how much of a crowd to expect, we were surprised to see only about 10 people around the tasting counter. Mr. David Mair, the global brand ambassador for The Balvenie, had not yet arrived so the crowd was being offered samples of another Balvenie expression: The Doublewood.

The Balvenie is a speyside distillery owned by William Grant & Sons, a private family-owned company that is better known for its other more prolific distillery, Glenfiddich. While both of these distilleries are located in Dufftown within the Speyside region of Scotland, in my opinion, the Balvenie represents the true essence of a speyside malt. Oakey, honey and toffee flavours with just a hint of smoke and peat. These are the attributes of what used to be its most prevalent expression, the 10-year old Founder's Reserve. This expression seems to have been removed from production, making the DoubleWood Balvenie's most common offering. If you have the opportunity to pick up bottle of the Founder's Reserve before it disappears, I would recommend doing so. It rates highly on the value scale, and is one of my favourite malts under $50.
The DoubleWood is a 12 year-old Balvenie, matured in two different casks. It spends most of its twelve years in a traditional oak whisky (ex-bourbon) cask followed by a few months in a first-fill European oak sherry cask. This adds the sherry fruitiness and sweetness to the malty, honey and toffee flavours The Balvenie is known for. Rest assured that tasting notes for both the Founder's Reserve and the DoubleWood will be appearing in the not-too distant future on The Spirit Safe.

This day, however, belonged to the Vintage Cask.

Each year, The Balvenie malt master, Mr. David Stewart (the industry's longest serving malt master), selects a few exceptional casks of whisky aged over 30 years to release as The Balvenie Vintage Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky. These bottles are individually bottled by hand and marked with the cask #, the date it was filled, the bottling date, the bottle # as well as the total # of bottles within this particular limited edition. As one could imagine, stocks of these malts are extremely rare and difficult to find. This particular Vintage was distilled in 1976 and aged for 31 years in an ex-bourbon cask before being distributed into a total of 231 bottles in 2007. The Malt Advocate, a popular whisky magazine, rated this particular bottling as one of its top ten new whiskies of 2008: "Balvenie ages well, as this ongoing series of vintage releases proves. Incredible depth and complexity while still tasting quite lively for a whisky this old." The price tag? A whopping $800 US, according to the Malt Avocate. Here in New Brunswick, there were only 5 bottles of the stuff available in the province (where whisky prices are unusually low), at the seemingly bargain price of $616 CDN.

We perused some of the other rare whisky offerings of the Vaughan Harvey liquor store while waiting for Mr. Mair to arrive. These included 30 y-o Brora and 30-y-o Glen Ord bottlings, as well as a 28 y-o North Port (Brechin) expression, all in around the $300 range. When David Mair arrived, he apologized for being late due to problems with his connecting flights in from Paris. By this point there were around 40 people gathered near the tasting table, a mix of whisky enthusiasts and passers-by who were curious what all the fuss was about. Mr. Mair proceeded to give us a wonderful introduction to The Balvenie, explaining that is one of the few distilleries that remain under the ownership of its original family proprietors, as well as one of the very few that does its own floor maltings (and turns them with shovels!). His talk was very similar in scope to those offered as introductions at the distillery tours that I took while visiting Scotland in 2004. While Mr. Mair instructed us on the proper way to nose and taste a whisky, I noticed others around me starting to fidget, anxious to get a taste of the special bottle.

David Mair finished his introduction to Balvenie by describing selection of the vintage cask, done by David Stewart, as well as Balvenie's annual releases of 17 y-o expressions. This year it is a bottling matured for 17 years in traditional oak, followed by a few months aging in a madeira wine cask. I was a big fan of Glenmorangie's Madeira Wood expression, so this is something to look forward to. The Balvenie Madeira Cask bottles allocated to Canada will only be available in New Brunswick and Alberta. These bottles will be making their first appearance in NB at the province's annual Spirits Festival in November, retailing for about $119 CDN. Balvenie's previous 17 y-o bottlings have been very well received by critics and previous incarnations include a Rum Cask finish, Sherry Cask finish and New Oak finish. Your blogger was lucky enough to obtain a bottle of the New Oak, so the tasting notes for that expression will grace a future posting.

Finally, the moment arrived. David Mair removed the bottle from its wooden case and unpeeled the plastic surrounding the top of the bottle. Cameras flashed as he offered the first drink to an elderly lady seated near him, asking her if she would care to be the first to try it. After indulging her, he continued pouring for the rest of the crowd - no measuring, just pouring by hand from the bottle and giving us each roughly half an ounce. Pretty generous given the price of the bottle! The crowd quieted somewhat as everyone got their first taste of the 31 y-o whisky. Your blogger wasn't the first to get his sample, but he wasn't the last, either. Patience has its limits!

How was it? Surprisingly perky given its age. Lots of the honey and toffee one expects of a Balvenie, with some lighter floral notes on the nose, mixed with vanilla. A bit more smoke and peat than I was expecting, and this was in the reflected in the taste as well. It was rich and oily in the mouth and had a great, medium-length finish. Mr. Mair confirmed the presence of the extra smoke and surmised that they may have used more heavily peated maltings at the Balvenie back then.

My co-worker and I spent some time talking to a reporter from the Times-Transcript, not a whisky enthusiast himself, who was trying to get a true feel of how significant this tasting was. I think he sensed the excitement from everyone in the room and the appreciation shown both to David Mair and the organizers of the event. The link to his article is given below:

http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/search/article/808532

All in all, it was a wonderful opportunity to taste a rare old whisky (that didn't disappoint), meet a great brand ambassador with some other whisky enthusiasts, and it didn't cost a penny - the best lunch hour from work I've ever taken!

Special thanks to Stephen Lewis for the photos!

The Main Event: Single Malts vs. Blends (Round 2)

As discussed in the last post, single malt and blended whiskies do different things well. Even if you are a die-hard (yippee-kay-ay) single malt fan, before you turn a blind eye to all blended whiskies, consider what is composing the blend. If the taste of whisky made from anything other than barley does not appeal to you, the average blend will probably not be to your liking. If you're seeking a smooth, balanced whisky that works well in mixed drinks and does not have any strong particular flavour characteristics, your palate and pocketbook will thank you for choosing a blend! That being said, there are aged blends out there that can get pretty pricey - check out Johnnie Walker Blue Label and older Chivas Regal blends. A large part of the reason these guys are so expensive is that they contain some really nice old malts which can be difficult to find on their own.

It is important to keep in mind that almost all whiskies, including single malts, are blends of whisky of different ages, and from different casks (unless they state otherwise). The practice of mixing or blending is an important way for distilleries to obtain consistency in their product year after year. For whiskies designated as single malts, only product from that particular distillery is used. Let's take Ardbeg 10 y-o as an example. Although it has an age statement of 10 years, in reality it is a blend of Ardbegs of various ages. By law, the age statement given on the bottle has to refer to the youngest whisky added to the blend. Thus, there may be older whisky in there, but the youngest whisky is 10 y-o. Older whisky is generally more mellow (see the Wood, Wine and Whisky posting) and can therefore be used to help balance or counteract the strong character of a younger whisky. It is in the best interest of the distillery to maintain consistency in their product, thereby keeping their loyal customers satisfied. This means that you know what you are getting when you buy a particular expression of whisky (such as Ardbeg 10 y-o), year after year. However, despite the efforts of master blenders, connoisseurs often report sensing changes in their favourite products over time, for better or for worse.

Just when you think you've got this all figured out, here come the vatted or blended malts. These are blends made entirely of malt (malted barley) whisky, acting as somewhat of a bridge between the world of single malts and blends. The goal when producing vatted/blended malts is to make a whole whisky greater than the sum of its parts, but there is also the risk of losing the best part of any particular whisky thrown into the mix. Depending on the types of single malts used, a vatted malt can result in a marriage of several different flavour characteristics or be more specialized than a traditional blend. Johnnie Walker Green (termed a "pure malt" whisky) is blended to create a vatted/blended malt with balance and complexity, through the use of speyside malts like Cragganmore and Linkwood mixed with peaty, smoky malts like Talisker and Caol Ila. In contrast, Compass Box Peat Monster is made up of (yep, you guessed it) several peaty and smoky single malts, resulting in a vatted/blended malt focused on these characteristics.

Variety is the spice of life, and the tremendous increase in whisky products available these days certainly benefits the consumer. Even for single-malt fanatics, blended whiskies can be extremely useful in training your palate for comparison with single malts. A little online research will tell you which single malts make up the core of a particular blend (for example, Strathisla in Chivas Regal) and while tasting you might be able to pick its particular notes out of the crowd. Vatted malts also add variety, balance, and the chance to try some of your favourite malts in interesting combinations. What do you get when you mix malts originating from 6 different Scottish Isles? Try a bottle of Six Isles Pure Malt Whisky to find out! In conclusion, there is no obvious winner by TKO in this title bout (though as a judge I would choose single malts). All of these different classes of whiskies have their strengths and weaknesses, so before dismissing any particular type of whisky, give it a try and offer judgement based on its class (vatted malt, blended malt, blends, or single malt). No doubt back in the day there were a great many vanilla, chocolate and strawberry purists startled by the appearance of Neopolitan ice-cream!

The Main Event: Single Malts Vs. Blends (Round 1)

"Tell me what brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals."
-Abraham Lincoln

Due the current surge of interest in whisky, its nomenclature and classification have become important battlegrounds for the hearts and minds of consumers. These battles are most often fought by the corporations which own distilleries seeking to protect their markets and brands, and often result in lawsuits. Groups such as the Scotch Whisky Association spend significant resources defending the definition of scotch whisky and preventing its misrepresentation around the world. Why is the description of whisky so important to the business? The answer lies in another question: Why do most people, when asked if a single malt whisky is preferable to a blend, answer that the single malt is better without so much as a taste of either? Is there truth in this statement, or is this bias simply the result of marketing genius by the companies which own the distilleries? Oddly enough, the answer is a little bit of both.

Single malt whisky is described as whisky produced by a single distillery, using a single type of grain. The grain used will depend on the type of whisky being produced: Single malt scotch whisky is produced using barley, rye whisky is produced using (you guessed it) rye. Many other types of whisky, such as bourbon and traditional Canadian whisky are produced from multiple grains. Whisky produced from multiple grains is called "blended whisky". Although most connoisseurs prefer single malt whiskies, sale of blended whisky vastly outnumbers the former, as most whisky is consumed by people who enjoy it in a mixed drink or "on the rocks". In both cases, the emphasis is on creating a smooth, well-balanced drink that is palatable to a large audience. It's not that different from Hollywood movies trying to appeal to everyone by including a little bit of everything: action, romance, suspense - usually beyond necessity and almost invariably to the detriment of the story.

An important point to understand is that blends and single malts are trying to do different things: Blends are mixed to produce an easy-drinking spirit that includes aspects of several different whiskies, in an effort to add a character like "smokiness" without overdoing it.
Single malts are produced by individual distilleries trying to produce a house "style". This style may not appeal to the vast majority of of consumers, but their goal is to get the loyalty of passionate imbibers who are willing to spend a little extra money on something they won't be mixing with Pepsi. Someone who really enjoys really smoky whiskies would be better served finding a smoky single malt like Talisker than looking for this characteristic in a blend.

The interest in single malts these days has provided the consumer with a vast number of expressions availalble to try, but this is a relatively recent development. The quality and consistency of blends is much easier to maintain, as you can mix and match flavours to offset any particular aspect which might otherwise be lacking. In fact, it is thought that the practice of blending may have been introduced around 1863 in an effort to increase the appeal of whisky to disenfranchised English wine and brandy drinkers unable to obtain wine due to a Phylloxera blight afflicting French vineyards. Blends have dominated the whisky market ever since, and it's safe to say that no distillery in existence today would have survived the last century without marketing its product for use in blends.

The revival of interest in single malts was due to a relatively small number of pioneering souls. William Grant & Sons, the company which founded and runs both the Balvenie and Glenfiddich distilleries, decided to set aside some of their product for aging and subsequently market it as a single malt whisky. Although there had always been small groups which preferred unblended products of individual distilleries and found imaginative ways of obtaining supplies of their drams, this represented the first large-scale marketing of a single malt whisky. Its introduction to the global market would result in a revolution within the industry and provide us all with the wide variety of Scottish, Irish, Japanese, Welsh, American, and Canadian single malt whiskies we see today.

Wood, Wine and Whisky

Ask anyone about their favourite application of wood, and you'll probably get an answer something along the lines of building materials or fuel for fires. You may get a few more creative answers such as model boats, snowshoes or charcoal for the BBQ. Wood is a substance that has a myriad of uses, but its influence on whisky is both an art and a science - applied with style and substance.

Aging whisky in wooden barrels is such a central tenet to making scotch that by definition, it must be aged for three years in oak barrels before it can be called "scotch". Most of us find it hard to imagine whisky culture without thinking of a cooper assembling casks from wooden staves and iron bands, or a warehouse full of oak hogsheads and sherry butts slowly nursing the water of life contained within. This leads us to the next obvious question: Why?

The effect of wood aging on whisky has been debated at length, but in a nutshell it helps to mellow the spirit, making it more smooth and a wee bit easier to drink. If you have any doubts about this, I double-dog dare you to try a bit of raw spirit the next time you visit a distillery, or if you're feeling particularly adventurous and know the right people, try some moonshine. You'll quickly discover why this stuff is often called "firewater". I had been drinking whisky for a couple of years and often took it straight up, before trying a bit of Miramichi moonshine for the first time on a salmon fishing trip. It certainly put my manhood back in its place! The process of whisky maturation in wooden casks is a relatively new endeavour, however. It only become commonplace on an industrial scale in the mid-nineteenth century. Prior to that, everything was "firewater"- bottled right from the still at a throat-burning 60-70% abv!

Whisky aged in wooden barrels undergoes some fairly complicated chemistry as part of the mellowing process. The barrels do "breathe" a little bit, promoting some interaction with the outside air and allowing some of the more volatile components like methanol (bad alcohol) to escape. Unfortunately, you also lose some ethanol (good alcohol) during this process. The portion that's lost to the atmosphere amounts to about 2% of the volume in the barrel per year, and is affectionately referred to as "the Angel's share". Now, 2% may not sound like such a big deal to be giving up to the angels, but imagine a barrel that's being aged for 20 years. With a starting volume of 30 litres, at the end of 20 years almost 10 litres has evaporated. You can understand why distilleries might be more apt to bottle more at 15 years as opposed to less volume at 20.
A few Islay distilleries claim that their malts take on some their character from the salty sea air, due to the proximity of their warehouses to the ocean. It's hard to say how much of this is true, but it certainly lends to the imagination and lore of the spirit!

During maturation, the whisky will take on some flavours from the wood itself. American oak barrels that have previously held bourbon are a very common choice for whisky maturation. American oak tends to be less porous than European oak, and for this reason there is less interaction between the spirit and the wood. If your spirit is already very full-flavoured and has a lot of character, you may want to limit the influence of the wood. Alternatively, many "woody" flavours including butter and vanilla can be increased by letting the spirit age longer in the cask, or using more porous wood.

Taking this to the next level, many distilleries now use casks which were previously used to store different types of wines, port or sherry. Using these types of casks can add both the colour and character of the previous occupant to the new tenant spirit. Good examples of this process are the MacAllan malt whiskies. The MacAllan has adeptly used sherry casks to add rich, buttery sweetness to their spirit. Recently, they have released a "Fine Oak" range, which allows us to glimpse what the MacAllan is like underneath the strong yet masterful sherry influence of their traditional expressions. One of the reasons they are able to draw so much of the cask's character into their whiskies is through the use of "first-fill" casks. Many distilleries will use a given sherry cask several times in succession to age their spirit, with the effects diminishing each subsequent use. "First-fill" means that these casks are being filled with whisky for the first time after their initial use for sherry, maximizing its effect on the spirit.

Although sherry is one of the most common "wood finishes" and can be found in expressions of almost every malt from Speyside to Islay, many distilleries have been experimenting with other types of finishes. Glenmorangie has been one of the pioneers of this field, bringing to market expressions aged with Port, burgundy and madeira wines. Many other distilleries have followed suit, including the "Classic malts", with their Distiller's Editions showcasing different wood maturations.

Innovation in wood maturation has led to an explosion of different whisky expressions and combinations of flavours. It doesn't always work well, and often the extra flavours mask the most admirable qualities of a given malt. The character of whiskies aged for too long (especially over 20 years) can sometimes become strained and tired, losing the pep and kick of a younger expression. Older isn't always better, so think about what you're spending those extra dollars for. At any rate, variety is the spice of life, so take the opportunity to try some different maturations of your favourite malt and note the influences of that wood in your whisky!