Whether you're a whisky lover or a cognac drinker, you've ever drunk brown spirits and you've heard of the word oak barrel. "American barrels", "cognac barrels", "French barrels", "sherry barrels", "Madeira barrels" ... The variety of oak barrels confuses many people who are new to brown spirits, but what role do these things play in the brewing process? What are they for? In this issue of bean knowledge, let's talk about the knowledge related to oak barrels.
Q: What exactly is an oak barrel?
A: In essence, the so-called "oak barrel" is a barrel made of oak wood used to store and transport various items. As for why oak was chosen over other woods, the main reasons may be as follows.
Oak barrels are barrels made of oak. While storing the liquor, it imparts color and flavor to the liquor.
First, the material of oak is relatively convenient. In the earliest days, there were more oaks in France and Italy, and it was more convenient to use local materials. The second is because compared with many other trees, oak is more outstanding in flexibility, easy processing and other convenience, as for the oak barrel will bring more flavor changes to the wine, in fact, at the beginning was not within people's considerations, after all, there was no flavor debate in the winemaking process at that time, and being able to drink may be the key.
Q: What role do oak barrels play in the growth trajectory of spirits?
A: In most cases, oak barrels play two main roles in the growth of spirits. One is to color the spirit, and the other is to add flavor to the spirit.
The main reason why oak barrels can color and add flavor to spirits is that they go through two steps of burning and roasting during the production process. The use of an open flame can not only change the flavor of oak, but also produce caramelization reaction and Maillard reaction, which is colored and flavored. When the distilled liquor is placed in oak barrels, it absorbs color and flavor simultaneously.
Of course, depending on the oak barrel used, it has a different effect on the flavor and color of the liquor. For example, grilled oak barrels tend to bring more intense color and flavor, while used secondary barrels have less impact on the color of the wine or increase in flavor than new oak barrels.
Q: What is the difference between oak barrels for cognac and oak barrels for whisky?
A: Oak barrels for aged cognac can only be made from two types of French oak, one from the Limousin district and the other from the Runtesse district. The oak barrels used to age whisky are not as particular about the origin of oak, but usually whisky distilleries choose used oak barrels for aging, and sherry barrels and American oak barrels are the most common choices.
The freshly repackaged Fullvasse VSOP uses hand-selected Limousin oak barrels to change the colour of the wine and give it a woody aroma and a layered flavour.
In addition, aged oak barrels can be used for secondary aging of whisky, but aged oak barrels cannot be used to re-age cognac – even if you want to break the mold and change the flavor of cognac through the techniques used in oak barrels, you need to use a new oak barrel.
Q: What exactly does it mean to say secondary aging in the whisky world?
A: The so-called "secondary aging" actually refers to an oak barrel use technique, to put it bluntly, the wine after aging in the first oak barrel is changed to a barrel and continued to sit for a period of time. As for how long to sit out, it depends on the flavor that the cellar master wants to create.
Scottish Report 15 Year Old Madeira Single Malt Whisky
Take, for example, the Scotland Report 15 Year Old Madeira Single Malt Whisky. This product uses two kinds of oak barrels: American oak barrels and madeira barrels. The winery's master winemaker, David Stewart, aged the wine in American oak barrels for 15 years before transferring it to Madeira barrels that let Madeira go, resulting in a wine that not only has the signature American oak flavor, but also has notes of peaches, citrus and hazelnuts.
Q: What effect do different flavors of oak barrels have on whisky?
A: Due to the different terroir, production process, and use experience, each oak barrel will have its own unique flavor. Taking sherry barrels as an example, sherry barrels made of American oak and sherry barrels made of European oak will initially have some flavor differences, and because of the different stored sherry, the sherry barrels will also bring different flavors - for example, oak barrels using Oloroso sherry will bring some dried fruit flavor, while oak barrels with PX sherry will have more sweet taste. As for some of the more special oak barrels, such as the famous Yamazaki using water barrels, which have a Zen aroma belonging to the East, while Hibiki, who is also from the same group, recently launched a sake model using cherry blossom barrels, pursuing a more obvious and distant floral aroma.
Mouch's 30-year-old single malt whisky, re-aged in three specially selected oak barrels, Bordeaux barrels, Calvados barrels and Guatemalan rum barrels, has resulted in a complex, enchanting, powerful and varied flavour expression.
Hibiki blended Japanese whisky, which uses cherry blossom barrels for secondary aging, has a more pronounced floral aroma than other types of oak barrels.
Of course, as we just said, if the master winemaker is also planning to play with some new oak barrels, then the oak barrels you've heard of – such as cognac, madeira, Calvados, red wine, etc. – may appear on a wine's vinification list and bring some flavor changes to the liquor.
Q: For those who are new to brown spirits, which oak barrel should be used?
A: Strictly speaking, the key point of choosing wine is to see whether you like it or not, and any expert opinion is actually no better than your own tongue. However, if you have a heart that wants to systematically learn and understand brown spirits, it is more recommended to choose some oak barrels that have a history and have become the default base flavor.
For example, when choosing cognac, you can choose to use Limousin oak barrels (most cognacs use this type of wine, and many distilleries are happy to follow the classics), and when choosing whisky, you can choose those wines with a basic vintage and American oak or sherry barrels as a single barrel to help you better understand the signature flavors that those barrels and wines should have, and then slowly choose those wines that have played with flowers.