Category Archives: Reference

French Oak vs. American Oak Barrels

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One of the most entertaining parts of the Macallan Distillery tour was the section on the art of coopering, or barrel-making. I always implicitly knew that the barrel played a significant role in the taste of whisky but until the tour I never had a name for the art, coopering, nor any basic understanding of what led to what.

One of the biggest factors, besides the maturity time, has to do with the type of wood the barrels are made of. The wood itself is almost always oak, though at times spiritmakers have experimented with other hardwoods. With oak, you have two options – French Oak and American Oak. In many years past, the differences between the two were more pronounced as French Oak, with its tighter grains, imparted its flavor more slowly. However, as American coopering started adopting some of the French coopering practices (splitting staves along the grain and air-dry seasoning for 24 months), the differences have diminished over time.

Having sampled Macallan’s new make whisky (what goes into each barrel), I can definitely say that the aging process in the barrels really gives scotch its depth of flavor.

Whisky Tasting Wheel

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Whisky Wheel

The above is a Whisky Tasting Wheel taken from Whisky Magazine, via Scotch Blog, and I posted it here because it’s one of several “whisky wheels” out there. Whisky wheels are great because the fun in sampling different whiskies is in finding the subtle aromas and flavors. It’s hard to know what to look for if you don’t have a map, especially when you’re a novice like me, so having a wheel available can help. I wouldn’t get too carried away though, as trying to smell fresh laundry or hot sand (both are in the Sandy part in the Sulphury wedge) might leave you more confused than anything else.

When I enjoyed the Laphroaig last week, I could distinctly smell the medicinal aroma, which makes sense in such a peaty scotch. But looking back, I didn’t get any tar, diesel oil, or seaweed (not that I was supposed to).

In the end, the whole experience of enjoying whisky is very personal and everyone’s palate is different, so while this should give you diesel, don’t sweat it if you can’t get the flavors you read in some tasting notes.

2009 Single Malt Scotch Whisky Buyer's Guide

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Scotchblog.ca has a great feature this week for those seeking to find the perfect gift for a lover of Scotch. The guide starts with a fantastic bit of advice from Ian Millar, Global Brand Ambassador & Master Distiller at Glenfiddich”

“look for single malts between 12 and 18 years old that come in at $50 to $80.” This way there is some measure of quality as you aren’t ending up with something made for the sake of being inexpensive.

I think that’s solid advice, you can’t go wrong going into a store with that approach.

From there, they picked four bottles for the under $70 group, four for the $70 to $100 range, and two in the over $100. Each choice comes with an idea of what’s captured within the bottle, what it goes well with, and it’s important to match those up with whatever notes you’ve taken about the person its for.

If you know they hate peatiness or smoke, then going all out for a Lagavulin, even at $125 a bottle, is going to be less effective than if you bought a Macallan 12 at $90. It’ll also show you’ve been listening… which is always good right? 🙂

Scotch Barrel Sizes: Firkin, Kilderkin, Hogshead, Butt & Tun

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Macallan Barrels

One of the best parts of the Macallan tour was the special barrel/art of coopering section they had above the warehouse. In it, they explained the difference between American oak and French oak, barrel construction, and other aspects of coopering.

Did you know that a barrel has a standard volume of 36 Imperial gallons? (43 US gallons)

I didn’t, I figured barrel was a general term for a container of that general size and shape. Well, to make things more interesting, there are actually many varying sizes of “barrels,” some of which have very funny names (all gallons are Imperial gallons):

  • Firkin – 9 gallons
  • Kilderkin – 18 gallons
  • Barrel – 36 gallons
  • Hogshead – 54 gallons
  • Butt – 108 gallons
  • Tun – 216 gallons

Firkin – It’s an old English term derived from a Middle Dutch word vierdekijn, which means fourth. It’s appropriate because a firkin is a fourth of a barrel in volume.

Kilderkin – Again an old English term derived from Dutch but it doesn’t mean half, it just means small cask, but it is a half barrel.

Hogshead – I wasn’t able to find the origin of the term but it was standardized as 54 gallons by an act of Parliament in 1423.

Butt – This size in wine is called a pipe, so when The Balvenie Portwood Finish 21 states it was finished in Port pipes, it means barrels of this size.

Tun – It sounds like ton because it shares the same origin though the latter refers only to mass/weight.

Finally, what’s the difference between Imperial gallons and US gallons? The US measurement comes from the English measurements of the Middle Ages, it wasn’t until 1824 that the English derived the Imperial system, which was after American independence. An Imperial gallon works out to be a little over 1.2 US gallons (technically, ~1.20094992550 US gallons).

It’s always interesting to learn a little bit of trivia!

(Photo: schlaeger)

What is Chill Filtering?

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Chill filtered.

Sounds grand right? But what exactly does it mean?

Chill filtered means the whisky is chilled to near 0°C and then filtered through a very fine filter. Beer is cold filtered in the exact same way (not surprising, since they are cousins) and the purpose is to clarify the beer. It’s meant to make it look clearer and cleaner, removing haziness.

The reason why it’s use a lot in beer is because it shortens the production time. If you don’t chill filter, you have to wait until the particles settle. By chill filtering, you don’t have to wait.

It comes at a cost though, it removes a lot of the stuff that add flavor and body to both beer and whisky, which is why many people don’t like chill filtering.

Is there a difference? Chemically yes, but can your palate detect it? Perhaps… just an excuse to sample more whisky! 🙂