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Cask Finishing has become extremely popular recently. Around half of every new release of single malt seems to have been 'finished' in something exotic and enticing. The process of finishing a whisky involves re-barreling the spirit from its primary maturation cask, into something different. The cask used for 'finishing' is often noteworthy. We'll look at those in favour ? including Glenmorangie and Bruichladdich ? and those who oppose the technique. Single malt whisky maturation is, almost without exception, done in second hand barrels. The reason for this is that, whilst they are often full bodied, single malt whisky is easily overpowered by fresh oak. It all becomes tannic and bitter and thoroughly unpleasant. Historically, ex bourbon and ex sherry casks have been used for whisky maturation. Both provide a ready market. After the original spirit has been matured in the barrel and emptied, a little portion will remain. This inevitably imparts some character to the whisky that is filled into the barrel next. Braving their way through the new frontier of cask finishing is Bruichladdich. The self-styled innovators have released ever so many expressions recently, so many are re-racked into exotic barrels and each has a story. The team at Bruichladdich coined the term ACE'd (additional cask enhancement). It all sounds very scientific. Take their 1984 Redder Still. A 22 year-old expression named for its reddish hue. The limited release bottles were re-racked into Chateau Lafleur Pomerol wine casks, which offered its striking appearance. The cask also offered berry fruits in the palate, spicy oak and juicy fruit. Bruichladdich also released a range called the First Growth series. Each of the six expressions in the range was finished wine casks from the first growth vineyards of Bordeaux. Notable examples include the Chateau D'Yquem and the Chateau Lafite. Two distillers who are also rather keen on the notion of finishing their whiskies are Glen Moray and Glenmorangie. Glenmorangie released excellent examples matured in Port Wood and Sauternes barrels, name Quinta Ruban and Nectar D'Or respectively. Glen Moray has a range of white wine finished whiskies, including their Chardonnay finish. Some of the industry are against the idea of cask finishing, claiming it is for publicity, or to cover up poor quality whisky, or that it's just plain untraditional. Glenfarclas is a distillery that has maintained their proud traditions, shying away from cask finishing, and letting their spirit speak for itself. They use, almost without exception, top quality sherry casks. This gives Glenfarclas whisky a juicy, rich character. Both those in favour and those against offer good arguments. It is, perhaps, fair to say that it is often done for publicity. But one can argue that publicity is hardly a bad thing ? we need to keep the industry alive, after all. Whisky drinkers have changed; so many different people are enjoying single malt whisky, and remaining entirely traditional is not always possible. We have to innovate to keep an age old industry fresh. It's not exactly untraditional either, for historically the single malt distillers would mature their whisky in what was to hand. They used bourbon and sherry casks as they were a financially sound source of barrels; it wasn't done for 'integrity'. Perhaps it is also occasionally done to cover up a once poor whisky. But making something poor into something better can only be a good thing. It boils down to the fact that industry thrives on innovation, yes it's not always traditional, but great things often come from experimentation. Whisky is an art of creation after all, and who's to say where one can be creative and where one cannot. If you'd like to try for yourself, all of the whiskies in this article are available from Master of Malt.
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Tyrone Nodal has been tasting malt whisky for over 20 years. One of his favourites at the moment is Tomatin whisky, a single cask single malt whisky.
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