What barrels is American whiskey aged in? Where is whiskey aged? Why oak

To make whiskey, distillate from grain mash is infused in an oak barrel. The taste and aroma of the drink largely depends on how you prepare the barrel.

Choice of barrel: large or small

In a small barrel there is a larger area of ​​contact between the drink and the walls. In a five-liter barrel, 2000 cm2 comes into contact with the drink; for every liter of distillate there are 400 cm2 of oak staves. Conversely, the larger the barrel, the smaller the contact surface of the wood. In a 50 liter barrel, 7600 cm2 comes into contact with the drink, and for each liter of distillate there is 3 times less contact area of ​​the barrel - 152 cm2.

Therefore, whiskey in small barrels will be ready much faster than in a large barrel.

Aging period of whiskey in a 5 liter barrel:
Irish style whiskey – 6 to 8 months;
Scotch style whiskey – 8 to 12 months.

Preparing a new barrel: soaking with water

If the barrel is completely new, it needs to be soaked before use. When the rivets absorb moisture, they will swell and become closer to each other.

How to soak a barrel correctly - sequence of actions:
1. Fill one third with cold water, drain after 3-4 hours.
2. Fill 2/3 with cold water, drain after 3-4 hours.
3. Fill the barrel full, seal with a stopper, and let stand for 5 days.
4. Add water as it flows out.

Two days after filling there should be no leakage. If water leaks, the barrel needs to be repaired.

After the staves have swollen, the barrel is washed with a solution of caustic soda at the rate of 20 g per liter of water and rinsed with clean water.

Re-soaking with wine or distillate

After soaking with water, it is early to pour distillate into the barrel to age the whiskey. The wood contains too many tannins and tannin - the whiskey will turn out “oaky”. Therefore, the barrel is soaked in a liquid containing alcohol with a strength of at least 18%.

Soak with the following drinks:
distillate of the first or second distillation;
fortified wine;
raw alcohol;
“heads” and “tails” of fruit and grain distillate.

The taste and smell of whiskey depend on the drink that was poured into the barrel for soaking. In Scotland, whiskey producers specifically purchase barrels after bourbon has been aged in them. For whiskey, the barrel is soaked for 2-3 to 4-5 months. If the barrel is fresh, you cannot drink the wine after such soaking; you will have to pour it out or, in extreme cases, distill it.

After soaking with wine or moonshine, the barrel will release excess tannins.

Angels' share: sealing the barrel

During aging, some of the alcohol will definitely evaporate through the pores of the oak staves—“the angels’ share.” At home, up to 60% of the drink can evaporate in 2-3 years. To prevent this from happening, a new barrel is coated with wax or a waxed product is purchased. Another “folk” way is to wrap the barrel in cling film and seal it with tape. They say it helps.

To prevent the angels from taking your whiskey, the barrel must be covered with wax or cling film.

However, the “share of angels” is influenced by both the humidity in the apartment and the volume of air in the room where the barrel is stored. If you store the barrel in a closet, there will be less loss.

Features of reuse

The barrel is used to age whiskey up to seven times. Each time the whiskey matures longer, because the barrel releases tannins more slowly. After the fourth cycle, the barrel is considered old. To flavor the drink, oak chips are added.

To get rid of bacteria and fungi, fumigate the barrel with sulfur after use using a special device. Or rinse the barrel with a solution of caustic soda at the rate of 10 g of soda per 10 liters. To do this, dissolve soda in hot water, pour it into a container and roll it on the floor for 10-15 minutes. Then the soda solution is drained and the barrel is rinsed with clean water.

Drinks are most often judged by their taste. When tasting good whiskey, connoisseurs usually say briefly: mature, soft.

With softness, perhaps, everything is clear, but with maturity it is more difficult, since this term usually means endurance. What period is optimal, does the production method affect the aging time, how long should the drink be aged in a barrel in order to acquire the very maturity for which it will be appreciated.

A few words about whiskey

Whiskey is a natural product, it is based on grain crops. The manufacturing technology looks something like this. Initially, from barley, rye, wheat, corn or millet - sometimes you can even encounter the use of rice or buckwheat, malt is prepared. It is dried and a wort is obtained, which is subject to fermentation. The fermented mass undergoes a distillation process, the resulting product is filtered and bottled in barrels.

From this moment the countdown begins, which is then called the aging of the drink. After a certain period, if necessary, it is blended (mixed) and poured into those beautiful glass containers that we see on store shelves.

The strength of whiskey is in the range of 35-60 degrees, the color varies: from light yellow to brown. It is highly valued - it is on a par with cognac, rum, and vodka. The value is determined by the quality of the drink, which in turn depends on aging - time, conditions. It is different in each producing country. The minimum aging of Scotch whiskey is 3 years, Irish - 5 years, Canadian - 6. The aging of the original drink cannot be less than 10-12 years, collection - 21 years, and the rarest and most valuable varieties are aged from 30 to 50 years.

Aging depends on the barrel

To this day, opinions on what is the most optimal aging period for whiskey are ambiguous. The terms vary, depending on the method of production. Only one rule remains unchanged: the longer the drink is stored in a barrel, the more its taste changes - it becomes colorful and rich. If the whiskey is in a different container, then time does not affect the quality in any way.

In a barrel, under the influence of wood, taste, color and aroma are formed. This moment of birth and maturation of whiskey in its production is still considered the most mysterious and completely unsolved. After all, if you do not guess the aging period and make it shorter, the result will be the most disastrous: instead of a noble drink, you will get ordinary grain alcohol or moonshine.

The alcohol obtained from grain is bottled both in new barrels, which are necessarily made of oak, and in those where other drinks were previously aged. Usually noble, high-quality wines act as predecessors: port, sherry. The choice of a specific type of barrel rests with the master distiller.

The drink must remain in the barrel for at least 3 years and one day. Only then can it be called Scotch whiskey. True, today this bar has been raised to 5 years, which is explained by increased quality requirements. During this time, the porous wood constantly saturates the drink with tannins, and some of it evaporates and goes through the walls. In Scotland, these evaporations are called the “angels' share”; exactly how much liquid will evaporate depends on climatic conditions - humidity, temperature, etc. On average, 0.5-12.5% ​​evaporates per year.

The older, the more expensive

Whiskey is an elite drink, people drink it with pleasure. It is vodka that makes you drunk, drinking it in huge quantities, while whiskey is characterized by small doses, relaxation, and pleasant sensations.

True connoisseurs of the drink understand a lot about it and pay a lot of money for real quality. In return, they receive a special, incomparable taste and aroma, directly dependent on the method of production, bottling and aging of the product.

Let's say the whiskey produced by The Macallan has been aged for as long as 64 years. But the price of a serving of this drink is impressive - 60 thousand dollars. However, this is not the limit - for the oldest whiskey in the world they asked for 1.4 million dollars.

It is believed that the older the drink, the less often it can be found, and its cost is correspondingly higher. However, experts say that properties do not always improve over the years; a certain peak occurs in development, which can only be felt by a real, experienced specialist.

For example, Scotch whiskey of the Lagavulin brand reaches its apogee in development at 16 years, and another brand, Glen Grant, is sold with five years of aging. The reasons for such a difference in the maturation of the drink lie in the characteristics of distillation, location of production and, of course, the barrel.

The most interesting thing is that when creating a drink, it is unlikely that any master expects that in 50 or more years he will be able to taste it. A striking example is Grant's David, where barrels that had been stored for more than 50 years were opened. The drink in them turned out to be amazing: not only freshness and fruity notes were felt in it, but also an unusual taste of birch bark. The drink retained its strength - it was 40 % However, even the most experienced and oldest whiskey master could not explain how such a masterpiece came out.

This suggests that the creation of noble drinks still remains a sealed secret. No one knows exactly what exactly happens in the barrel, which means it is impossible to give a full guarantee that after 50 years of aging you will get a unique drink with inimitable taste. Only one barrel in a million may turn out to be like this. And maybe you will be the one to try this drink.

As you know, the flavors of “living water” greatly depend on the place of production, but the general technology of whiskey production remains approximately the same in all countries. In this article we will understand what and how whiskey is made from, consider all the stages in detail and touch a little on the characteristic features of individual regions.

Whiskey composition. The basic ingredients are always the same: malt (sprouted grain), yeast and water. Sometimes a little sugar or caramel is added to the finished drink, but this applies more to cheap varieties. There cannot be any flavors, dyes or other chemical additives in real whiskey.

Step-by-step manufacturing technology

Malting

Whiskey is made from pure barley or a mixture of grains, for example, bourbon (American whiskey) consists of at least 51% corn, and the rest comes from other grains (barley, rye, etc.), pure rye or wheat varieties are also possible . Rarely, there are whiskeys made from rice, buckwheat, and other grains.

The grains, dried in a sunny, well-ventilated room, are poured with water and left to germinate, changing the water periodically - this is how enzymes in cereals are activated that break down starch into simple sugars. Sprouted grain is called malt. The entire process takes up to two weeks. The main thing is to stop the malting of the grains in time so that the sprouts do not “eat” all the starch that will be needed in the next stages.

Whiskey made from unmalted (unsprouted) raw materials is called “grain”. In fact, it is an ordinary alcohol aged in barrels with a rough taste and almost complete absence of an aromatic bouquet. Grain whiskey is not sold as a separate drink, but is only mixed into blends with “noble” distillates.

Drying malt

The finished malt is removed from the water and dried in a special chamber. In Scotland, on the Isle of Islay and in Japan, the smoke of bog peat is additionally used to give the drink a characteristic “smoked” taste and smoky aroma.

Wort preparation

The grinding is poured into a wort boiler, filled with water and gradually heated, not forgetting to stir. The future wort sequentially goes through several temperature regimes with sustained temperature pauses:

• 38-40°C – flour and water turn into a homogeneous mass;
• 52-55°C – protein is broken down;
• 61-72°C – starch is saccharified (turned into sugar suitable for yeast);
• 76-78°C – final sugary substances are formed.

Fermentation

The wort is poured into wooden or steel vats and mixed with special alcoholic yeast (each reputable enterprise tries to have its own unique strain). In many distilleries, yeast is taken from a previous batch of mash; as a result, the process becomes cyclical and lasts for tens and sometimes hundreds of years.

Fermentation takes 2-3 days at a temperature of about 37 degrees. Yeast actively reproduces, feeding on oxygen, and when the oxygen in the mash runs out, the breakdown of sugar obtained from starch in the grain begins.

At the end of this phase, the time comes for malolactic fermentation - fermentation of the wort using lactic acid bacteria rather than yeast. The mash, ready for distillation, with a strength of 5%, tastes like beer, but without hops.

Distillation

The spent mash is subjected to double or triple distillation (depending on the manufacturer) in copper distillation cubes - alambics. The material of the equipment is very important: copper eliminates the “sulphurous” taste of alcohol and provokes chemical reactions, as a result of which vanilla, chocolate and nut tones appear in the bouquet of whiskey. However, new production facilities sometimes install stainless steel equipment.

After the first distillation, the mash turns into “weak wine” with a strength of ~30 degrees. To obtain 70 proof whiskey, a second distillation is necessary.

For further whiskey production, only the middle portion (“heart”) is used; the first and last fractions (“heads” and “tails”) are drained or sent to a distillation column to obtain pure alcohol. The division into fractions is due to the fact that at the beginning and end of the distillation process many harmful substances enter the finished drink.

Even the shape of the alambik matters: every notch on the copper side affects the taste of the distillate. Therefore, when equipment is changed at old distilleries, the new one is cast exactly according to the patterns of the old one, preserving all the defects, “bends” and dents.

For the production of grain whiskey and bourbon, a Coffey continuous distillation apparatus is often used instead of a traditional two-chamber alambic. This device distills mash not in batches, but constantly. This production method saves time and distillation costs, but degrades the quality of the whiskey.

The finished distillate is diluted with soft spring water to 50-60 degrees. Some distilleries prefer hard water with a high content of trace elements; this whiskey acquires a characteristic mineral flavor.

Excerpt

Traditionally, whiskey is aged in oak sherry barrels, but for cheap varieties, sometimes bourbon containers are used (American whiskey “ages” in new barrels, charred from the inside) or even completely new, previously unused barrels.

At this stage, the bouquet of the drink is finally formed, a noble caramel shade and aroma appear. At the same time, 6 main processes take place:

1. Extraction (“pulling” aroma and tannins from wood).
2. Evaporation (the barrels are not sealed tightly, the alcohol gradually evaporates).
3. Oxidation (of aldehydes when interacting with barrel material).
4. Concentration (the smaller the volume of liquid, the richer the aroma).
5. Filtration (through membrane filters, immediately before blending or bottling).
6. Colorization (using caramel to make the drink look “noble”).

The average aging period is 3-5 years, but there are varieties that spend 30 years or more in barrels. The longer the whiskey is aged, the greater the “angels' share” - the volume of alcohol evaporated - and the higher the price. Over time, oak wood absorbs most fusel oils from alcohol, saturates the drink with lactones, coumarin and tannin, but if you overdo it, the whiskey will acquire a “woody” taste.

Blending

It is a process of mixing distillates (sometimes grain alcohols are also added to the composition) of different aging periods and (or) from different distilleries. There is no single recipe: each brand has its own secrets. The number of mixed varieties can reach up to 50, and they will all differ in taste and aging. The proportions are selected by an experienced production master - a blender. Typically, such a person works at the enterprise for decades and, long before retirement, prepares a replacement for himself from among other employees, gradually passing on secrets and best practices.

The point of blending is to guarantee the buyer the same taste of his favorite brand from year to year, regardless of the characteristics of the harvest or technology. Mixing also allows you to create new whiskeys with a unique taste (they will expand the range of products) from the distillates available to the enterprise, changing only the proportions.

Blending is not a necessary step: many connoisseurs prefer to drink pure single malt whiskey produced by one distillery, this category is called “single malt”, and blended whiskey is labeled “blended”. Disputes about the superiority of one category over another make no sense; it is more a matter of taste and philosophy than the real impact of production technology on quality.

Blended whiskey is kept in oak barrels for several more months so that the mixed varieties “get married” - turn into one harmonious drink, and not a cocktail of flavors.

Bottling

After the final aging, the whiskey undergoes filtration (mechanical to separate the liquid from particles of wood and other solid fractions); sometimes the drink is diluted again with water until the required strength is obtained. Only after this the finished product is bottled and sent to stores.

Cheap distilleries sometimes use the dubious method of cold filtration, where whiskey is cooled to approximately -2°C. As a result, fatty acids float to the surface and are easily removed mechanically. After cold filtration, whiskey loses some of its organoleptic properties (aroma and taste), but looks more presentable - it does not become cloudy in the glass when ice is added, it appears amber and transparent.

Preparation of moonshine and alcohol for personal use
absolutely legal!

After the collapse of the USSR, the new government stopped the fight against moonshine. Criminal liability and fines were abolished, and the article banning the production of alcohol-containing products at home was removed from the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. To this day, there is not a single law that prohibits you and me from engaging in our favorite hobby - preparing alcohol at home. This is evidenced by the Federal Law of July 8, 1999 No. 143-FZ “On the administrative liability of legal entities (organizations) and individual entrepreneurs for offenses in the field of production and circulation of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 1999, No. 28 , art. 3476).

Extract from the Federal Law of the Russian Federation:

“The effect of this Federal Law does not apply to the activities of citizens (individuals) producing products containing ethyl alcohol for purposes other than sale.”

Moonshining in other countries:

In Kazakhstan in accordance with the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offenses dated January 30, 2001 N 155, the following liability is provided. Thus, according to Article 335 “Manufacture and sale of home-made alcoholic beverages”, illegal production of moonshine, chacha, mulberry vodka, mash and other alcoholic beverages for the purpose of sale, as well as the sale of these alcoholic beverages, entails a fine in the amount of thirty monthly calculation indices with confiscation of alcoholic beverages , apparatus, raw materials and equipment for their manufacture, as well as money and other valuables received from their sale. However, the law does not prohibit the preparation of alcohol for personal use.

In Ukraine and Belarus things are different. Articles No. 176 and No. 177 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses provide for the imposition of fines in the amount of three to ten tax-free minimum wages for the production and storage of moonshine without the purpose of sale, for the storage of devices* for its production without the purpose of sale.

Article 12.43 repeats this information almost word for word. “Production or acquisition of strong alcoholic beverages (moonshine), semi-finished products for their production (mash), storage of apparatus for their production” in the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses. Clause No. 1 states: “The production by individuals of strong alcoholic drinks (moonshine), semi-finished products for their production (mash), as well as the storage of devices* used for their production, will entail a warning or a fine of up to five basic units with confiscation of the specified drinks, semi-finished products and devices."

*You can still purchase moonshine stills for home use, since their second purpose is to distill water and obtain components for natural cosmetics and perfumes.

It's no secret that the best container for aging whiskey is an oak barrel. It is here that one of the most mysterious processes occurs - the maturation of an alcoholic drink, hidden from human eyes. As you know, for aging malt spirits, distillery masters choose either “fresh” oak barrels or barrels that were previously used to age other drinks. The most common barrels in this case are oak bourbon or sherry containers.
Bourbon barrels should be given special attention, since this type of container is considered the most common and accessible for the aging process of malt alcohols.
What is so special about this “foreign” barrel? First of all, it is worth clarifying that bourbon is an American type of whiskey created from corn alcohols and is considered the national drink of the United States. Accordingly, corn spirits in the USA are stored in special barrels made using specific technology from American oak wood. After the bourbon has been in barrels, these containers are sent to Scotland, where they earn, so to speak, a second life. The fundamental difference between American bourbon barrels and European ones is their structure. Thus, American oak has a higher concentration of so-called oak lactones than European oak. Lactones formed from lipids in oak wood are responsible for the formation of intense woody, charcoal, and sometimes coconut tones in the bouquet of the alcoholic beverage, which is stored in such a barrel.
The process of creating a Bourbon barrel is an incredibly complex task that only experienced coopers can do. It is only at first glance that it seems that the profession of a cooper is very simple. In fact, specialists have been studying this craft for at least five years, and alcohol companies take the selection of candidates for the position of cooper extremely seriously.
Before making a barrel, craftsmen thoroughly dry the oak wood. The wood is dried in specially equipped dryers for at least two weeks. The material is then heated to give it the desired shape and plasticity. The shape of the barrel is secured with six steel hoops of varying sizes, and at the final stage the barrel is fired, causing the wood sugar in the oak to crystallize. Before pouring bourbon into a barrel, the drink's producers fire the container one more time, but this time from the inside. As a result, a black layer of soot forms inside the barrel, and the structure of the inner surface of the wood changes noticeably. This carbon deposit, of course, is removed from the drink at the final stage of production using special sulfur compounds. The thickness of the soot, of course, has a great influence on the elements contained in the wood, and therefore on the taste of the finished alcoholic drink. As a rule, coopers fire a barrel for 40-60 seconds, but there have been cases when the firing time was increased to four minutes as a daring experiment.

It is worth noting that the use of bourbon barrels in the creation of Scotch whiskey is a relatively young phenomenon, given the centuries-old history of scotch. It is known that the first Scotch whiskey was poured into bourbon barrels around the 30s of the last century. Until this moment, the whiskey had matured safely in sherry tanks brought from Spain. The main reason why whiskey producers suddenly switched to Bourbon barrels was the interruption in the supply of European oak containers associated with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Of course, the number of European barrels in stock at factories has noticeably decreased. Until now, about 20 thousand sherry barrels and more than one and a half million bourbon containers are used in the production of whiskey.
So, after the barrel has served its first term as a home for American whiskey, it is ready to start a new life and become a “cradle” for scotch. The barrels are disassembled into planks and sent across the ocean to Scotland, where coopers reassemble them and re-fire them from the inside.
It is important to understand that American Spirits casks, unlike sherry casks, are capable of producing whiskey with only minor, subtle, but undoubtedly wonderful flavor notes, including pleasant notes of charcoal, coconut, smoke and oak. Most producers in Scotland store their spirits in both bourbon and sherry casks and then blend them in varying proportions. The result is an amazing drink with a rich flavor and complex character.
Most often, barrels from the USA are used in Scotland to age one or two batches of distillates. These are barrels of the first and second fills. That is, after two fillings, the barrels are sent to “retirement”. However, there are cases when one barrel is used to age whiskey up to 3-4 times. After the first filling, the barrels are “refreshed”: the surface is treated in a special way and fired again. Such a barrel is quite ready to “work” further.

When it comes to the volume of the oak container, Bourbon barrels are classified as Hogshead barrels. A Hogshead cask can hold approximately 245 liters of malt spirits.

In conclusion, it is worth adding that whiskey is a unique drink, the maturation process of which is influenced by several important factors. The quality and structure of the bourbon barrel is one of the main factors. In this case, all the smallest details are important, starting from the method of firing the barrel and ending with the growth rate of the “donor” tree that gave “life” to the oak container. That is, Scotch whiskeys from different barrels that arrived from America in one batch are completely unique alcoholic drinks, distinguished by their specific taste and aroma.