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Once bourbon is all set to relocate from barrel to container, that barrel is up for grabs– given that under U.S. law bourbon can be matured just in new oak. There’s a well known practice of distillers in Scotland, Japan, and Ireland purchasing used bourbon barrels to mature their whiskies, however much more just recently a bourbon barrel’s life has actually expanded well past whisky.
Oak-aged expressions can be discovered for almost every spirits kind. In rum, there’s Don Papa from the Philippines, Santa Teresa 1796 from Venezuela, and Mount Gay from Barbados, to call just a couple of. Tequila is in a similar way bountiful in oak-aged expressions from brands including Don Julio, Lunazul, Ocho, Espolòn, and also much more. Also typically unaged spirits are entering the video game: Philadelphia Distilling, New Riff Distilling, KO Distillery, and also Caledonia Spirits all provide gins matured in either pre-owned or brand-new American oak barrels. There’s also an oak-aged vodka on the market from OYO Distillery.
The white wine world has actually likewise participated in. “When we launched our 1000 Stories bourbon barrel-aged zinfandel back in 2014, it was the first widely available wine of this kind,” notes Bob Blue, winemaker for Fetzer winery’s 1000 Stories label. “Folks were absolutely ready to experience wine in this new way—our sales skyrocketed.”
American oak is made use of for aging spirits of all kinds, and also for some extremely great factors. For starters, American oak is chock-full of wonderful substances that provide tastes of vanilla as well as toffee, while it is also porous enough to permit adequate levels of oxidation. There is also the functional problem of supply: American oak barrels often tend to be extra bountiful than most barrel kinds, and also for that reason are simple to get as soon as bourbon manufacturers are made with them.
FAMILIAR, YET DIFFERENT- It’s In The Barrels
Bourbon’s popularity is obvious, so it makes sense that spirits manufacturers as well as red wine manufacturers would search for means to attract bourbon followers. Aging as well as ending up in bourbon oak completes that objective, as it presents acquainted bourbon-like flavors.“Our Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Woodford Reserve Barrel Finish gives bourbon lovers an opportunity to try something different, but with a familiarity they’ll enjoy,” says Zidanelia Arcidiacono, who makes the pinot noir for California winery Sonoma-Cutrer—which has an inside track on barrel supply as it’s owned by Brown-Forman, also owner of Woodford Reserve and Old Forester, as well as Tennessee whiskey Jack Daniel’s. “It works the opposite way too: I love pinot noir, and find myself delighted by the bourbon-barrel flavor in this wine.”
“A bourbon barrel gives you a completely different aroma and flavor profile—you’ve got to understand how much it will change your product,” says Arcidiacono. “Bourbon barrels are charred at high temperatures rather than toasted the way French oak wine barrels are. The charring allows for some caramelization on the interior surface of the barrel, and any liquid you put inside will absorb aromatic and flavor compounds like caramel, hazelnut, spices, and honey.”
“People the world over love the sensorial characteristics American oak imparts on spirits, from bourbon to scotch to tequila to cachaça,” says Novo Fogo marketing director Luke McKinley. “When people first try our barrel-aged cachaça many say, ‘This tastes like bourbon!’ to which we add, ‘Yes, it tastes like American oak because bourbon tastes like American oak!’ Ultimately, the barrel-aged cachaça is both recognizable and totally unique because of this combination of North American wood and South American spirit.”
Looking for to bring in American scotch followers over to the world of French brandy, Martell Cognac released Blue Swift– a base of VSOP cognac matured in French oak casks and also finished in bourbon barrels– in 2016. (The item’s finish in bourbon barrels suggests it can no much longer legitimately be called cognac as well as is instead referred to as a “spirit drink.”) The cognac’s fragile candied fruit as well as plum tastes are enhanced by the notes of vanilla sweetness and also toasted oak from the bourbon barrels.
Develop a Barrel-Aged Bar With These 10 Bottles
For 1000 Stories, bourbon-barrel aging began as an experiment with its zinfandel, however the wine making group was so pleased by the results that it expanded the profile to consist of a bourbon barrel-aged red mix, cabernet sauvignon, and also chardonnay.“These wines are different—period,” Blue says. “The bourbon barrels add texture and richness to the wine, especially with the added mid-palate that comes from the influence of the whiskey that lingers in the wood. It’s just something you don’t see with traditional winemaking.”
Trinchero Family Estates has found a rapt target market for its Ménage à Trois Bourbon Barrel cabernet sauvignon. “Aging cabernet in bourbon barrels is all about taking what’s best about the wine and making it even more flavorful,” says Trinchero senior vice president of winemaking Glenn Andrade. “Bourbon softens heavily charred barrels, making them ideal candidates for aging wine. The barrels also impart smoky notes along with flavors of marzipan, cinnamon, and nutmeg—all great nuances for cabernet sauvignon. Just three months of aging in bourbon barrels goes a long way.”
AGE MATTERS
For its bourbon barrel-aged wines– including a chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, and red blend– Beringer Bros. resources made use of American oak barrels and ages its white wines in them for 60 days.“The average age of our barrels is 4 years—we’ve found that older used barrels allow for a better integration of flavors,” says Beringer Bros. winemaker Ryan Rech. “Used bourbon barrels tend to impart fewer tannins but are still intense, with great flavors of vanilla, coconut, dill, and sawdust.”
Blue of 1000 Stories additionally likes aging in older barrels, which he sources from a range of Kentucky distillers, due to the fact that they convey more bourbon character to the a glass of wine. “Older barrels add mature vanilla and spice aromas without the intensity of raw wood, which can be overly smoky or even bitter in newer barrels,” he clarifies, adding that he does play with more recent barrels for “perfuming the wine.” This is when percentages of red wine are contributed to brand-new barrels, conveying a tidy, white-smoke fragrance from the char and rustic structure from the brand-new oak– this a glass of wine alone would certainly be also extreme to drink, yet when small quantities are included in the overall white wine mix, it includes a subtle and appealing aromatic note.
Ménage à Trois utilizes barrels from its sibling brand, Amador Whiskey Co. When Amador’s Double Barrel bourbon is finished aging in brand-new American oak, Ménage à Trois’s cabernet sauvignon is added to the still-wet barrels for 3 months of aging. “New char is just too aggressive,” Andrade says. “We’ve found that the nuances of our various Amador whiskey mashbills add complexity to the wine that we otherwise wouldn’t get from new charred oak.”
Stephen Carroll, owner of Don Papa rum, works with a supplier out of Louisville, Kentucky to resource bourbon barrels for aging. “We use other barrel types as well, but from our perspective, the bourbon casks dominate in terms of creating a product with deep flavor and a smooth mouthfeel,” he says. “We’ve also purchased some virgin American oak and placed rum in them, evaluating the liquid in these barrels every three to six months to see how they’re progressing. At the moment, our verdict is that it still needs more time. We’ll see how this continues to develop.”
“American oak introduces aromas and flavor notes of vanilla, toffee, butterscotch, and hazelnut, which integrates well with a variety of spirits, including rum, tequila, and gin, as well as wine.”
Novo Fogo sources bourbon barrels from Four Roses and also Heaven Hill, and also has a cooper in Brazil sand as well as re-toast them. “The cooper shaves off the char and some of the bourbon that has soaked into the wood and re-toasts the wood to a variety of levels—this is because in the hot, humid climate of Morretes, Brazil, the ‘devil’s cut’ of bourbon that has soaked into the wood would leach into our cachaça, making for a far more bourbon-y spirit than we desire,” McKinley explains. “What’s cool is that, unlike bourbon producers, we can fill barrels with cachaça over and over again until the oak has very little left to give to the liquid. Even then, our cooper can shave and toast the staves to give new life to a very old barrel.”
“We use new American oak barrels, which we purchase from Independent Stave Company, for a couple reasons,” states Andrew Auwerda, president and owner of Philadelphia Distilling, producer of Bluecoat Barrel Finished gin. “First, we want to capture the same big flavors from the wood that bourbon gets, and using new charred barrels means we get first crack at extracting the vanillin, sugar, lactones, and all of the other flavors generated in that wood during the barrel raising. And second, using new barrels also means that there’s no other spirit’s influence on our product.”
Espolòn Tequila similarly makes use of brand-new American oak barrels for every one of its aged expressions, with its Añejo ended up in Wild Turkey barrels for the very best of both globes. “New barrels contribute better to the flavor profile we’re seeking, whereas used barrels would be slower to change the flavor profile and the bourbon would add different notes,” states Espolòn’s global brand ambassador Angel Delgado. “For our aged expressions, we transfer the liquid into #2 char American oak barrels at a relatively low alcohol by volume, which means less water gets added before bottling, to lock in more of that pure tequila flavor.”
H/T WhiskyAdvocate
