11/22/2023 0 Comments Oak barrelsThe type of oak used for whisky barrels has a profound effect on flavor. You can toast long, short, whatever you want deep-set your vanillas, deep-set your color, knowing you're going to burn some of that away, but you're going to have plenty as a result of the pre-toast.” The combinations are endless. “You can only char a barrel so long until it burns up. “If you pre-toast the wood, you can better control your vanillin and your color,” says Morris. So the heat passes through the barrel and you get different effects.” “And then, as heat radiates and cools, you get the breakdown of lignin into vanillin, and tannic acid begins to turn into the color red. “When you char a barrel, you break down hemicellulose into its ten constituent sugars, which caramelize in a very tight layer underneath the char in existing, unburned wood,” explains Morris. The science of this is better understood today than ever before. For Morris, the three manipulatives of stave and barrel creation that impact resulting flavors include, “How long do you dry the wood outdoors (seasoning), how long do you toast, and how long do you char?” Technology may be available for simpler and cheaper storage vessels for whisky, yet it would be a fool's errand, as there remains no substitute for oak's flavor-derived not only from the oak itself but also from its treatment. These cells dam up the vascular tissue, and it is these clogged pores that prevent an oak cask from leaking.” In other words, not just any tree species can become a proper whiskey barrel. “The cells of white oak contain tyloses, which are outgrowths on parenchyma cells of the tree's xylem. “The presence of a large volume of medullary rays in the wood structure contribute to this extra strength,” explains Kevin O'Gorman, Midleton'smaster of maturation. Oak is the ideal choice for several signature traits-strength and durability, its liquid-tightness, and suitability to coopering. “Oak became a barrel of choice as far back as the Roman empire,” says Chris Morris, master distiller at Brown-Forman, producer of Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniel's whiskeys. Using oak for barrels isn't exactly an emerging trend. To understand whisky, you must understand oak. The specific type of oak, the origin of the tree, and all the finer points of its treatment during production will influence the flavors the barrel imparts, whether vanilla or citrus zest, baking spices or dark red fruits, or a myriad of other possibilities. Considering oak's profound effect on the taste of whisky, it's not surprising that the details count. It's simple-without oak, there is no whisky as we know it today. Without time in oak barrels, whisky would remain white and fiery, devoid of the toasty, caramel, nutty, or vanilla notes that make our mouths water. There are over 600 species of oak trees in the Quercus genus, to which whisky maturation owes all.
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