Introduction

Double oaked or even triple oaked, it is now the norm in so-called high-end whiskies. Port finished or sherry finished Scottish single malt whisky? How about port and sherry finished single malt whisky! Barrel aging has taken the center stage position in whisky production. The longer the whisky is aged, the more expensive the bottle becomes. And the more different barrels it sees, well, again: the more expensive that specific whisky variety becomes. Does price equal quality? Does longer aging improve the whisky? What are Port and Sherry finishes really about? Let’s dive in deeper.

The origins of single malt whisky

With the invention of the Coffey Still in the 1870’s, the mass production of cheap grain-based alcohol became a reality. But who wants to drink neutral grain alcohol, right? So, with the invention of cheap, neutral grain spirit, blending became a thing. But what to blend the neutral grain spirit with? With rough, grainy, peaty, fruity whiskies. And that’s how the current Scottish single malt whisky came to be.

Small potstill-based distilleries sprung up that made coarse product. Coarse? Yes, coarse, because big and very specific flavors were needed to blend with the grain neutral spirit and turn it into something drinkable. Drinkable as in Scottish blended whisky. The bigger the flavors of the potdistilled add-ons, the more cheap GNS could be used.

But as demand for whisky declined, starting at the world wars and continuing to drop up to about the 1970’s, these potstill-based distilleries were in trouble. Demand for their add-ons dwindled and they were, slowly but surely, pushed out of business. The big Coffey Still based producers of grain neutral spirits were not affected as much, as their industrial output was used in basically any other type of drink, from gin to liqueurs.

Time heals all wounds

As the potstill-based Scottish distilleries went out of business, one of ‘m – Glenfiddich, if I remember correctly – decided to open a barrel and have a final drink. And as they opened a barrel that had been sitting there for way, way too long, all of a sudden they realized that the coarse “ready to blend” whisky they had originally made had – over time – turned into something nice, something drinkable!

Scottish single malt whisky doesn’t go back to the 15th century. It got established in the 1960’s. On the premise that even the coarsest of products will turn into something very interesting, the industry found a new footing … and look what it brought the Scottish potstill-based distilleries today: probably the best marketed, highest rated, best protected, and most valuable part of the international drinks business.

But age also comes with disability

As a crude new make spirit ages, the tailsy bits, where the earthy and rooty tastes and that long finish can be found, recombine into something interesting and potentially delicious. Take a sip of single malt whisky, swirl it through your mouth, and then swallow it. Keep your mouth closed and feel the drink warm your mouth and then your throat. Count the seconds that you taste the whisky and be surprised that the aftertaste can linger in your throat for 20, even 30 seconds. The crude tails smearing, over time, turns into something akin to magic.

But how about the front-of-mouth tastes? How about the heads smearing and the associated fruity flavors? Fruity, heads-associated esters have a tendency to oxidize. And oxidation is a much quicker process than the recombination that takes place for the tails-associated rooty and nutty flavors. Also, the recombination of tails smearing associated flavors is an ongoing process: the longer one takes, the more recombination takes place, and the better these flavors become.

The fruity flavors, and the process of oxidation, are not so lucky. There is an optimum time for oxidation, and after that the fruity flavors start to disappear. Where a crude new make spirit can improve its third dimensional, tailsy, throaty flavors almost indefinitely, that’s not the case with first dimensional fruity flavors. The fruity flavors usually start deteriorating after 2 to 3 years of cask maturation. After 10 years of barrel aging they have all but disappeared. Leaving you with a whisky that has a second and third dimension, but that does not give off any fruity flavors in that first initial second of your tasting experience.

Sherry and Port barrels to the rescue!

And that’s where double or triple oaked finish starts to come into focus. This is why an additional year on a Port or Sherry barrel might be a good idea. Why? Because the Port and/or Sherry add fruity flavors back into the whisky.

There you have it: Port and Sherry cask finishes are a thing, because Scottish single malt whisky has a problem. Over-aging leads to higher prices, but also to diminishing front-of-mouth, fruity flavors. Port and Sherry cask finishes help reintroduce fruity flavors to old whiskies that have lost these flavors due to over-oxidation.

My opinion on the right way forward

I’d love to taste a single malt whisky that maintained its original fruity esters. For that whisky to be perfect, less tails smearing is needed. Less tails smearing leads to faster recombination of the end-of-mouth esters. Less tails smearing will create a slightly less intenste after-taste, that maybe lingers for 15 seconds instead of 20 to 30 seconds. But, combined with the original fruity flavors still being present after – for example – a barrel aging period of just 3 years instead of 20 or 25 years … the drink will become more interesting, more balanced … and way closer to how those Scottish distilleries that actually existed in the 1500’s would make their “uisge beatha”.

Or do you really think that those original Scottish distillers had a 20 year business time horizon? Or that they had access to Sherry or Port casks? Of course not. They made it, they drank it, and what they didn’t drink went into the barrel. Plain oak barrels, nothing “fancy”.

Isn’t that a tradition the Scottish single malt whisky industry should look into? Connect to? I think it should. Today’s single malt whisky has nothing to do with Scotland’s great history in spirits production. Instead, it is based on industrially produced and blended Scotch, and on marketing, a shitload of marketing, and the blending-in of Port and Sherry. Let’s replace that with a genuine “uisge beatha”, the way it was produced centuries ago:

• Earlier tails cut to minimize the needed time for recombination;
• Limited barrel aging;
• So that the original fruity flavors of the whisky are maintained;
• Single barrel aging, because who needs Port or Sherry in their whisky;
• Focus on grain varieties with flavor instead of yield;
• So that the second dimensional grain flavors are highlighted once again;
• Instead of the grain flavors being overpowered by peat, Port, and Sherry.

A true Scottish single malt whisky is fermented up until 6%, instead of 8%, for 25% more flavor. It uses original, tasty grain varieties, instead of todays ones, that only focus on alcohol yield. The new make spirit is cut in such a way, that it perfectly ages out in just 3 years. More is not needed. And all that the new make spirit needs is a simple oak barrel, preferably from the UK.

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