Sherry Casks & Tomatin, The Position Of Sherry In Scotch Whisky With Scott Adamson

Earlier this 12 months, Tomatin launched its new Sherry Collection, a trio of whiskies that supply whisky followers the prospect to go on a journey by means of sherry cask maturation, from the ‘vibrant and zesty’ Manzanilla to the advanced, candy profile of the Pedro Ximénez, to the lesser-used and intriguing world of Palo Cortado.

Whereas Scotland’s relationship with sherry cask suppliers in Jerez, has been celebrated for many years, Tomatin’s newest assortment encourages audiences to contemplate the fashionable revival of sherry, which has undergone an thrilling renaissance lately. Because the blender and world ambassador for Tomatin, I’ve had the privilege of exploring the depths of sherry cask maturation. With this in thoughts, let’s discover the fundamentals of sherry casks and their function in scotch whisky maturation. 

What Is A Sherry Cask? 

In its very easiest kind, a sherry cask is an oak cask that has beforehand held sherry; a fortified wine produced in a small space in Andalusia, Spain, generally known as the sherry triangle.

This may increasingly appear fairly simple, however once we account for oak species and origin, the kind of sherry, and the tactic of maturation, sherry casks provide whisky producers an extremely various vary of taste alternatives.

Why Are Sherry Casks Used To Mature Whisky? 

As with many scotch whisky practices, custom is rooted in necessity and availability. The follow of maturing whisky in oak casks grew in reputation all through the 19th century (and have become a authorized requirement in 1915). 

Nevertheless, for a wide range of causes, native oak was not an acceptable choice. Because of this, distillers started to show to the ports the place casks of wine and spirits from around the globe have been touchdown. As soon as emptied these casks can be offered to distillers and so it quickly grew to become custom for scotch whisky to be matured in second-hand casks. As this follow of maturation was flourishing, sherry was one of the common drinks within the UK and so it grew to become commonplace for whisky producers to mature in sherry casks. 

As early as 1864 William Sanderson, certainly one of Scotland’s foremost blenders, wrote: “It’s well-known that whisky saved in sherry casks quickly acquires a mellow softness which it doesn’t get when put into new casks”.

Just a few years again I discovered an outdated warehouse e-book that recorded each cask stuffed between 1909 and 1923 and included particulars resembling earlier contents. While there was extra experimentation than I anticipated, there isn’t a web page that doesn’t have some type of “Recent Sherry”, “Personal Butt”, “II Sherry” or related superbly handwritten within the ‘notes’ column.

Into the 20th century, the supply of sherry casks declined quickly as did the worth distillers needed to pay to accumulate them. Because the Nineteen Forties bourbon casks have turn out to be the go-to for scotch whisky maturation however the demand from shoppers for the depth and number of flavour that solely sherry casks can present has endured. 

Right now sherry maturation has an air of ‘luxurious’ about it, and it’s wanted as a result of, to an incredible extent, it’s not the norm.

What Are The Predominant Sorts Of Sherry Casks Used In Whisky Manufacturing? 

There are seven several types of sherry. Starting from dry to candy they’re Manzanilla, Fino, Amontillado, Palo Cortado, Oloroso, Cream, and Pedro Ximenez. 

Essentially the most generally used kind of sherry casks in whisky maturation are casks which have held Oloroso sherry, a lot in order that in case you solely see “sherry cask” or “sherry matured” you may comfortably assume that an Oloroso cask has been used. These casks provide a wealthy, darkish, and nutty taste synonymous with basic sherry – dates, raisins, and typically a touch of spice.

Pedro Ximenez (or just PX) casks have grown in reputation during the last 10-15 years. PX is the sweetest pure wine on this planet with round 450 grams of residual sugar per litre. Unsurprisingly these casks can add an enormous quantity of candy, dried fruit notes to a whisky, however additionally they provide a fancy vary of flavours together with liquorice, espresso, and darkish chocolate.

Sustaining The Integrity of Sherry Casks 

At Tomatin, we’ve got invested closely in growing a first-rate maturation coverage. We companion with distinctive cask suppliers in order that we all know the casks we’re receiving are of the very best high quality. We’ve got our personal on-site cooperage which can assess casks upon arrival and keep them by means of their years of whisky maturation. 

As well as, each cask of Tomatin is absolutely matured on website which permits us to observe them carefully and everybody concerned in deciding on casks for bottling is predicated on website.

We buy the overwhelming majority of our sherry casks from a cooperage primarily based in Montilla referred to as Toneleria Juan Pino. In relation to casks for our core vary, we require consistency so we are going to use seasoned sherry casks. 

There’s a false impression that seasoned casks are ultimately inferior to bodega casks, however the actuality is that they’re much more reliable and produce constantly high-quality whiskies. Our seasoning program permits us to pick out the oak kind, cask measurement, kind of sherry, size of seasoning, and many others. We’re in full management and so this acts as an extension of our maturation coverage.

On occasion we may have the chance to buy bodega casks; casks which have held sherry in a bodega’s solera for many years. You by no means absolutely know what you will get right here because the cask historical past is just nearly as good because the bodega’s document preserving however the upside is that they are often actually distinctive. 

In all honesty, these alternatives to buy retired solera casks are so uncommon that they’re too good to show down. What we lose in management and consistency, we acquire within the alternative to create fully distinctive merchandise, and these casks are used for restricted editions just like the Sherry Assortment. 

Getting The Most Out of The Cask 

There are not any outright challenges however there are some issues we’ve got to be conscious of if we need to get essentially the most out of a sherry cask. For instance, if we’re utilizing casks from retired soleras, the bodily situation of the cask is a consideration. In some situations, these casks may have been in use for greater than 50 years so our cooper might want to spend a while ensuring they’re in an acceptable situation earlier than they’re stuffed. This isn’t a difficulty relating to seasoned casks.

One other bodily consideration is the scale of the cask. If we’re bringing within the conventional sherry butts which, with a capability of 500L, are greater than twice the capability of a conventional whisky hogshead, we’ve got to make sure that we’ve got warehouse house for them. Most of our warehouses are racked and the vast majority of the racking is designed to carry hogsheads. Typically bigger casks like sherry butts or port pipes will probably be laid down in dunnage warehouses. I’m positive these casks are a bit extra of a exercise for the blokes within the filling retailer and warehouses as nicely…

Past this, we’ve got to remember that sherry casks may have a special affect on our spirit than different cask varieties. At Tomatin we attempt to discover a stability between distillery character and maturation affect in all our merchandise. We produce a sublime, fruity spirit with a candy malty spine. If we depart this in an Oloroso or PX sherry cask for too lengthy, the cask affect can overpower the spirit traits whereas a bourbon cask then again may be left for over 20 years and the Tomatin DNA will nonetheless be current. Once more, not a problem, simply one thing we’ve got to be conscious of.

The Tomatin Sherry Assortment – What To Count on 

The Manzanilla butts have created a whisky with notes of sourdough bread and salted popcorn and flavors of chamomile tea, dried fruit, and maple syrup. This isn’t your typical sherry-matured whisky, it’s vibrant and zesty.

Palo Cortado is a uncommon and endlessly fascinating fashion of sherry. Our first-ever Palo Cortado matured Tomatin is totally fascinating. Cinder toffee, dried orange, toasted fruit loaf, and Brazil nuts are available in waves with a tangy and layered end.

The PX cask presents a depth that no different cask can. Nevertheless, quite a lot of the phrases I exploit to explain the aroma and taste would usually be thought of bitter, espresso, darkish chocolate, and licorice spring to thoughts. This explicit expression additionally has indulgent notes of sticky toffee pudding, lemon curd, and muscovado sugar.

The gathering showcases the flexibility of not solely the Tomatin spirit but in addition the sherry class as a complete.

The Sherry Revival 

Sherry has been having fun with a renaissance lately, thanks partly to the rising curiosity and globalization of Spanish tradition, particularly the variety of tapas and sherry bars popping up across the nation as a consequence of buyer demand. Very like the one malt class, trendy sherry tradition is about exploration.

What we love about this integration of sherry into trendy tradition is the great moments that it creates, with food and drink on the coronary heart of them. To us, these moments, shared conversations, meet-ups, and get-togethers are the center of the Tomatin lifestyle. We’re a distillery constructed on a neighborhood of individuals. And so, the Sherry Assortment celebrates these shared moments with origins in our world and in sherry’s.