FROM THE VAULTS

Sherry cask masters

WORDS: RICHARD GOSLAN

Following his trip to southern Spain’s sherry triangle in 2013, Richard Goslan caught up with three cask masters at the time who were using barrels from Jerez, to find out more about the sweet harmony of Scotch and sherry in this feature from Unfiltered issue 10 in October 2013

Billy Walker

Fruit cake, toffee, chocolate, nuts...sherry casks can contribute distinctive characteristics to their whiskies, to the extent that the label “sherried whisky” is a style in its own right.

Some distilleries – such as The Macallan – use sherry casks exclusively across their range. Others do special expressions, for example Glenmorangie Fino Sherry Wood Finish, Talisker Amoroso and Laphroaig PX, to choose a few.

So there are elements both of tradition as well as experimentation when it comes to the use of sherry casks. BenRiach master blender Billy Walker, for example, took on that tradition when he acquired GlenDronach distillery, which has always focussed on ageing its spirit in sherry casks.

“From the historical richness of the whisky’s colour there was clearly a significant contribution from Pedro Ximenez sherry casks,” says Billy. “So when we inherited the distillery, we began the process of re-racking casks that had been filled into bourbon casks into the right balance of PX and oloroso sherry casks.” Billy says the heavier PX sherry gives the whisky a sweeter, richer finish. He has experimented with the lighter fino sherry and other varieties, but says the “traditional” characteristics he wants comes from a mixture of PX along with oloroso casks.

“You never want the sherry to be too prominent right at the front where it might disguise the whisky. Sherry should always be a backing singer, it should never be a lead vocalist.”

IAN MACMILLAN

Ian McMillan

Both The Macallan and Highland Park use dry oloroso exclusively, to give their whisky an amber colour and spicy, dried fruit notes, although Edrington’s master of wood, Stuart MacPherson, says the barrel itself is still a more important factor than the sherry. Edrington uses oak from both Spain and the US for the casks it prepares in Jerez.

“Around 60 per cent of the final character and aromas come from the wood,” he says. “From European oak the levels of cask extractives, including vanillin, eugenol and tannins, are higher, giving more sweet, woody and spicy characteristics. In American barrels the levels of oak lactones are higher, which contribute more coconut and fresh fruit.

“Oloroso sherry casks seem to work well with the Macallan spirit. It may also be that we used to get oloroso shipped to Scotland in casks, which is not likely to have happened with fino sherries – my understanding is that the layer of flor on the top of a fino would have been disturbed during transit.”

With Bunnahabhain, Burn Stewart master blender Ian MacMillan also inherited a 12-year old oloroso-influenced whisky. His innovation was to do away with the chill-filtration process, which he says has allowed more of the sherry flavours and influences to come through in the final product.

He has also experimented with different types of sherries, including fino, amontillado, manzanilla and PX, but he prefers oloroso for its balance. “Oloroso is not overly sweet, it’s a medium sherry, it has a nice rich flavour and it balances out well,” he says. “You never want the sherry to be too prominent right at the front where it might disguise the whisky. Sherry should always be a backing singer, it should never be a lead vocalist.”

Ian makes regular visits to Jerez where he deals with different bodegas to source barrels for Bunnahabhain. He says that in the past, sherry casks were in greater supply, but as the whisky market for sherry wood increased, the sales of sherry were in decline. That led to distillers starting the process of getting casks made specifically for them, and having the bodegas fill them with sherry for two or three years before shipping the casks to Scotland.

Stuart MacPherson, third from left, with the team at Macallan

“Oloroso sherry casks seem to work well with the Macallan spirit. It may also be that we used to get oloroso shipped to Scotland in casks, which is not likely to have happened with fino sherries – my understanding is that the layer of flor on the top of a fino would have been disturbed during transit.”

STUART MACPHERSON

Edrington, for example, now work with three cooperages in Jerez to produce casks to their specifications, the majority of which then pass through sherry ageing in the giant Las Copas bodega of Gonzalez Byass. At GlenDronach, Billy Walker tracked down the specific bodega which had a long-standing connection with the distillery.

“Historically, we knew who the bodega had been supplying, so we engaged with them and they were happy to re-start the process of supplying GlenDronach,” he says. “We are religiously loyal to this bodega and we don’t use casks from anywhere else.”

GlenDronach uses new casks which go through the process of being lightly toasted and then filled with sherry for a year, to extract the tannins from the fresh wood. That sherry is removed and most likely ends up being made into vinegar, but the casks are then re-filled with a different sherry and aged for another two years.

Expense for any distiller using sherry casks is a major factor, with a barrel from a Jerez bodega costing around £700 compared with less than £100 for a bourbon cask. But these cask masters say the investment is invaluable when it comes to the difference the sherry-infused wood makes to the whisky.

“When we started out on this journey we appreciated that it was going to cost us a lot of money to buy these casks, but it contributes hugely to the quality profile we’re looking for,” says Billy Walker.

“We’re prepared to pay top dollar for casks, because the prize at the end of it is so significant. I would also say that there aren’t many distilleries focussing on richly-sherried casks, it’s not a very cluttered territory, so for us that is also attractive.”

*Job titles and information were correct as of time of writing in 2013

Gonzalez Byass sherry casks racked in Jerez

“We knew who the bodega had been supplying, so we engaged with them and they were happy to re-start the process of supplying GlenDronach. We are religiously loyal to this bodega and we don’t use casks from anywhere else.”

BILLY WALKER