Are scotch casks reused?

[vicsteele]

Once a scotch has aged for 12, 15, or even 17 years, do the distilleries reuse that cask for a new batch? Since wonderful flavors are found in used sherry and port casks, wouldn't a second batch benefit from a used cask or would the wood flavor be sucked out by the previous?

[Ralph]

Yep! They can be reused for up to 60-70 years.

Glenmorangie reuses a cask only 3 times. So depending on the age statement, that will tell you how long they are used.

I believe that tmost distilleries have them broken down and refurbished after each use.

[pnutbutrsangwich]

Balvenie's 17yo "New Wood" advertises that it is aged in new casks so I imagine that that means that a lot of whiskey is aged in older, used ones.

[jazznut]

Originally Posted by pnutbutrsangwich

Balvenie's 17yo "New Wood" advertises that it is aged in new casks so I imagine that that means that a lot of whiskey is aged in older, used ones.

This is far too broad a subject for me to hope to address in a short post, and I will therefore only skim the surface, so to speak.

First off... The Balvenie New Wood is, like most Balvenies, aged in a mixture of used Bourbon and Sherry casks (with a decided emphasis on the former). Only after having matured for a significant period is it then racked into the new wood vessels for a relatively short time. This practice (also employed substantially by Glenmorangie and others) is known as finishing.

The simple economics of the Scotch industry dictate that ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry and other sorts of casks be utilized more than once. To give one example, the traditional sherried line of Macallan comes from a mixture of 1st and 2nd-fill Sherry casks imported from Jerez. But it is not uncommon elsewhere for casks to be re-vitalized (i.e. cleaned and re-charred) and then used once or twice more prior to being retired. With each subsequent filling, the contributed characteristics of the original fluid contained therein obviously diminish. But this is not necessarily a bad thing, as the innate style of the spirit is thereby allowed to assert itself more plainly. A good cask manager at a typical distillery will strive to juggle the input from 'fresher' and 'multi-generation' casks so as to obtain a whisky displaying good balance between the influence of the wood (including previously contained spirits or wines) and the actual characteristics of the make of the distillery. This procedure also involves the close monitoring of each and every single cask, as the whiskies contained within age to an optimum point of maturity at varying rates. Of course, what constitutes 'optimum' has as much to do with the what the distillery is seeking from each particular cask (a younger, more malt-driven spirit or, perhaps, a more oak-embellished one) at any given moment, the state of available stocks and the requirements for maintaining the product range (i.e. different ages) as with the actual state of maturity of the liquid.

The potential contrasts are best highlighted by direct comparison between a whisky along the lines of the Macallan Gran Reservas (filled exclusively from 1st-fill Sherry wood) and some of the Cadenhead bottlings of Rosebank (likely from 3rd and 4th-fill casks). The former exhibit a very intense and resinous Sherry presence, while the latter come across as much more crisply spirity.

[dz130]

WOAH!!! And that's only skimming the surface?

[vicsteele]

I suggest that jazznut be reffered to as Doctor from now on. That is a great explanation. I have always wanted to try the Macallan Gran Reservas, but at $500 a bottle, I need to come into some cash first.

[MalkavianX]

Paging Dr. Nut, paging Dr. Nut!

[jazznut]

I have been known to use a surgical blade to clip cigars.

Originally Posted by vicsteele

I have always wanted to try the Macallan Gran Reservas, but at $500 a bottle, I need to come into some cash first.

Guess I should have snapped it up when it was going for $199CDN per bottle. But such hindsight would then also have to include any number of equally attractive and long since vanished single malts in the $25CDN to $45CDN range...

Of course, we're talking quite a few years ago here.

[LabRatGDI]

Originally Posted by dz130

WOAH!!! And that's only skimming the surface?

In jazznut terms, oh hell yes.