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The Maturation in Casks
Warehouse of the Dallas Dhu Distillery Scotch whisky has to mature by law for 3 years and a day. This is important for blended whisky, which is normally sold very young. Single malts mature as a rule for 8 years. Very seldom you see malt whiskys younger than this age. Very good single malt whiskys mature for 12 to 21 years. The maturation takes place only in casks from oak wood. Oak wood distinguishes itself by its breathing ability. Softwood contains resins and all pores are sealed. The origins of the casks are crucial for their later use. The Balvenie Distillery matures its whisky vastly in American Bourbon casks. These casks were formerly used only once for the maturation of Bourbon and are made from American white oak. Distilleries like The Macallan or Bowmore use in contrast mostly casks in which port-wine matured. Legendary became a whisky from the Springbank distillery which matured in old rum casks of the Caribbean islands. Its colour turned green! Important for the later taste of the whisky is also the place of maturation. The old warehouses have no concrete floors. The soil is compressed but natural. The casks lie on oak beams and are stacked between 3 to 9 rows on top of each other. Whisky in the Highlands mature differently than on the islands, because the Highlands have a very cold and snowy winter, whereas the islands are kept warm by the gulf stream. These different seasons have a crucial influence on the maturation process. The whisky is filled in the cask mostly at an alcoholic content of 63.5%. During the years a steady evaporation takes place through the cask walls. Ethanol evaporates at lower temperatures than water, therefore the percentage of alcohol in the casks reduces from year to year. A cask looses 0.5 to 1% per year. The Scottish people call it the Angles Share. The reduction of liquid in the cask is measured with a square wooden stick. Each side of the stick has its own scale which corresponds to the four different cask types used. The scales show the target level for each year. By this procedure you can detect even small leaks. The evaporation and the acquired taste from the cask wood smoothes the whisky over the years. All casks are sampled regularly for finding the moment when the cask reaches its best quality. The size of the cask has also an influence. Bigger casks have a relatively smaller surface to the content than smaller casks. The maturation in bigger casks takes a longer time! Casks are refurbished in cooperages after each maturation. The life of a cask may reach forty years. It is obvious that a whisky from a second maturing period in a sherry cask tastes less from sherry than the first one. Due to this many influences each cask produces a different and unique taste. But a particular whisky (e.g. Lagavulin) should always taste like a Lagavulin. Therefore the distillery mixes always a batch of casks for a final bottling. This has nothing to do with blending or vatting. Nearly all distilleries in Scotland do this with their final product. But they are only allowed to call their whisky a single malt, if all whisky in that bottle comes from only one distillery. The age on the bottle shows the age of the youngest whisky in the bottle. |
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