In recent years, the whisky market has been extremely hot, especially the sherry-flavored whiskey.
In the world of whisky with an extremely wide variety of flavors, the most popular and easiest to drink (especially for Asian alcoholics) is Shirley (especially Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez). Its thick raisins, Fruit, dark chocolate, figs, nuts, almonds, brown sugar, toffee, caramel pudding, nutmeg, cinnamon and other plant spicy aromas, rich and sweet. Coupled with the deep golden or amber color that the sherry barrel ages brings to the whisky, it is very pleasing.
As high-quality sherry casks are increasingly scarce and prices are increasing (usually £800-1000, bourbon casks are generally £70) today, there are still some Scotch whisky distilleries insisting on 100% or a large percentage of using sherry casks As the main style orientation of own winery. These wineries mainly include McAllen, Gran Gone, Gran Grate, Gran Dona, Tan Du and so on.
But what many whisky lovers are wondering is that the same year whisky in 100% sherry casks, why the price difference is so much? For example, McAllen’s 18 years has been close to 3,000 yuan, while the 18th year of the Grand Flower is only 1,000 yuan (and still 1,000 ml). The price difference of
is 3 times. In addition to the brand factor (compared to Gran Grate, the McAllen brand premium is of course higher), where is the biggest "gap"? The secret of
lies in the fading treasure of the whisky circle-Sherry barrels.
Many people take it for granted that sherry barrels are oak barrels that have been aged over sherry barrels. What I want to tell you here is that the oak barrels in the Solera system used to age sherry are not only rare, extremely precious, hard to obtain, but also used for too long (usually hundreds of years), and oak quality It has been exhausted and is not suitable for aged whiskey. Therefore, only a few wineries such as Tomatin, Slyrs, Arran and Spanish winery DYC have tried Solera barrel aged whisky.
Currently, most of the sherry casks are actually custom-made sherry casks , that is, the sherry casks produced by the whisky distillery in cooperation with the cooperage and the sherry casks according to their own needs. The specific process is as follows: the whisky distillery customizes the oak barrels needed from the cooperage, and the distillery rents or sends these new barrels to the Shirley winery (wine/spirit seasoning: that is, the sherry that is not long-lived) They were put into new barrels to bring out the taste of oak), the barrels were moistened for about one to two years, and then the empty barrels after moistening were sent to the whisky distillery. This is a custom sherry cask specially built for the distillery.
It is worth noting that a kind of "pseudo Shirley barrel" has appeared on the market. There is no need to age the sherry in it, just pour a small amount of paxarete sherry on the wall of the barrel, and force the liquor into the pores under high pressure. This shoddy "Sherry Barrel" was finally banned by the Scotch Whisky Association in 1980 after being slandered for a while.
European oak
Under normal circumstances, European oak is more expensive and of better quality than American oak. American oak is usually white oak with larger grain spacing and lower tannins and content. European oak has a tighter texture and higher tannin content. For aging, the volatility of alcohol should be lower. In addition, its vanillin, derivatives and lipidsThe quality is higher than that of American oak barrels.
American Oak
The Macallan Distillery and Spain Tevasa Cooperage (Japan’s Suntory is also a customer of the factory) signed a very long-term contract to ensure that it can be far below the market price (650 pounds/ A) Preferentially imported sherry barrels. The Tevasa Cooperage Factory only selects red oak from northern Spain (about 14% of the essence) that is 70-100 years old, and sends it to Jerez, exposed to the sun for 2-4 years, and then handcrafts them one by one. Oak barrels.
and the cooperage of Gran Grate is José Miguel Martin. Although it also uses European oak, it mainly comes from France and Romania, and the quality is worse than that of McAllen.
——The time to run the barrel and the age of the Shirley barrel
The "Sherry" currently used to process custom Shirley barrels is generally young liquor, which is a compromise made out of cost considerations . Of course, big-name wineries such as McAllen and Suntory will choose more mature sherry barrels, which theoretically will be closer to the early transport barrels (real sherry barrels), but the cost will be much higher.
Shirley Barrel Run Barrel
Generally, the barrel run time is 6-24 months. The longer the time, the better the effect of moistening the bucket, and of course the higher the cost. McAllen insists that the barrel run time is 18-24 months, which is generally higher than the standard of many cooperage factories. This is also one of the main factors that make the Macallan Sherry Bucket remain at the top of the industry.
-the number of times the Shirley barrel is used
every time the oak barrel is used, the material contained in the wood will be dissolved out once. As the number of uses increases, the content will become less and less, and the influence on the flavor of the wine is also The lower. Therefore, first fill oak barrels will have a heavier aroma and darker color. Refilled oak barrels, because they have been used once, have a weaker effect. Because of this, refilled barrels are most suitable for long-term aging and can achieve a more balanced performance. By the third filling, although it can still be used, the bucket is tired and loses its aging effect.
McAllen has strict restrictions on the number of times the sherry barrel can be used, and each oak barrel can be used no more than twice . This is why McAllen's price is relatively expensive.
Based on the above three points, I believe that everyone has a deeper understanding of the reason why Macallan Sherry barrel wine is much more expensive than other wineries.
finally said: the current situation of sherry bucket-scarce resources, gradually disappearing.
has now seen the auction of high-quality sherry barrels in Europe, which undoubtedly releases a signal: the resources of sherry barrels are indeed less old and less . With the development of time, it is difficult to guarantee that Sherry Barrel will not withdraw from the whisky stage. Therefore, is extremely scarce and appreciated in a sense for 100% high-quality sherry casks, especially the newly filled sherry casks, , so it is not surprising that collectors and gluttons are so crazy.
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