Sherry Casks: A Whisky Lovers Guide

[@glenfiddddich]

Mate, do you have a source to show that the SWA has banned the use of paxarette? I heard it's still legal but became out of fashion.

[@MarkLittler]

Hey - sure - to the best of my knowledge it falls under The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 (the most up to date): Definition of “Scotch Whisky” and categories of Scotch Whisky 3 - (1) In these Regulations “Scotch Whisky” means a whisky produced in Scotland- (h)to which no substance has been added, or to which no substance has been added except- (i)water; (ii)plain caramel colouring; or (iii)water and plain caramel colouring Pax is deemed as an addative given it's highly concentrated and used in small volumes. When I was researching the video I reached out to a few people and here are their responses: "Hey Mark, the SWA deemed paxarette to be an additive as it was a "boiled down" or concentrated form of sherry and therefore wasn't representative of a product that was created through natural and odixative processes. The use of pressure to force the paxarette into the staves also further reinforces this notion as it is done using unconventional means." ALSO " the sherry producers *could* (and I know one that does) take the conditioning wine and then stick it in a solera to make sherry, so it legally ‘is’ sherry, a wine that is traditionally stuck in casks. Paxarette is just an ‘additive’ that was used for adding colour/flavour, and was not a drink that was traditionally matured in casks. AFAIK that is how the justification goes. In short: drinks traditionally aged in wood are fine. Things that aren’t drinks or aren’t traditionally aged in casks: not fine." I hope this helps.

[@Corle0ne]

It's most definitely banned. This is common knowledge. Sad thing too, cause it's been said to have produced some stellar whisky.

[@GrantMcWilliams]

You are correct, it was never actually banned but as Mark explains below it all comes down to the interpretation of additives which the SWA doesn't expound on. The SWA could argue, if they cared to do so that adding any chemical to a barrel before aging whisky would be an additive, but they have wisely chosen not to do that. The hair that some have chosen to split is that Paxerette it isn't a consumable product itself making it fall under the category of additive because it's being added (at best) to other things however just think about how easy that is to subvert. All someone would have to do is make a "paxerette" that tastes good coming out of the cask and you're back in business and the SWA can do nothing to stop you. It gets even murkier knowing that modern sherry casks don't make sherry at all but end up making vinegar. The differences between Paxerette which is tossed out or added to brandy and sherry which is made into vinegar or distilled into brandy are very, very small. Just take the Paxerette and make vinegar from it and it's suddenly legal or at least tolerated again. So, as you've probably heard, the real reason nobody uses paxerette is because the Scotch single malt whisky industry started to get really serious about 30 years ago and the practice was abandoned due to it's single dimensional flavor profile. If it hadn't been abandoned would the SWA have been more specific about what an additive was? Maybe but they didn't have to. I think you'll find that laws surrounding spirits generally describe what the most powerful players are doing, not force them to do it. Laws are generally drawn up after the practices have been standardized. At one point in Scotland there were some pretty big battles over the very definition of whisky itself. Is a grain based spirit distilled in a column still even whisky at all? Crazy to think about but it wasn't defined until the big players fought it out and got it codified. The laws came after, not before.

[@welshtoro3256]

Good video Mark. I do believe that the Whisky Industry abuses the term 'Sherry' in its overall definition. I've challenged many distillery reps over the years to be more transparent and informative about what sherry was actually used and from what bodega it came from when they describe their sherry whisky. They always want to get off the subject as quickly as possible. I have to confess to being one of those rare breeds of person that loves sherry and whisky equally and have visited many Sherry bodegas in Andalusia. Very few of them have any business with the whisky world. I once asked a fine bodega about their whisky business and he was genuinely surprised. He told me they wouldn't dream of selling their quality barrels to anyone. Many whisky distilleries are doing business with companies that don't even make sherry. That's the crux of it. Modern 'sherry' whisky has nothing to do with sherry. The vast majority of casks, staves, bits of wood supplied to the whisky industry have been seasoned with a base wine which would be illegal to described as 'sherry' in Spain itself. It has to be aged in the solera system first under very strict guidelines to use that term. The whisky industry has allowed that image of solera sherry to perpetuate and it still does with the vast majority of the public and most whisky geeks too. Some distilleries are dropping the 'sherry' term and short cutting to Oloroso or Amontillado, etc, descriptors but the same thing is true. It is base wine rinsed barrel, possibly intended for use in the future production of Oloroso, Amontillado, etc.

[@kodreaming]

Thank you. I am also a sherry lover myself and I don't really drink whisky seriously, but I am always intrigued by sherry cask whisky, as I assumed they just use ex-sherry cask. It is interesting it is actually just a cask with sherry treated...

[@McIntyresMalts]

Brilliant lesson, thank you Mark.

[@juancarlosarias6550]

Once again a great and informative video. One more thing that makes old transport casks different from the new ones is that in the old days the same transport casks were also used to ferment the sherry wines before they were filled with the final product and sent to the UK, and so the wood would have a different treatment prior to be filled with NMS in Scotland.

[@ADSCP]

Great job! I’ve been studying the subject of sherry casks since I stumbled with some information about it. The majority of people is unaware of this reality and keeps indulging sherried whiskies, but since the quality of the sherry used to season those casks is questionable, I’m not sure if people should continue to trust in sherried whiskies and should increase their attention to other types of casks. Buy this is why there are so many cheap sherried whiskies.

[@josuprada1459]

Really really nice explanation. Greetings from Spain!!!

[@barryhamilton7845]

Great Information Mark,and I learnt alot.Where you are is just stunning,and central for alot of good distillries and to think you're walking distance from Craigellachie,turning left,or Glennfiddich,Balvenie,Kininvie,Mortlach etc turning right.I was up there last year for a week,and was based in Rothes and had Glen Rothes, Glen Spey,Glen grant,Spey burn within five/ten minutes walking distance.Then depending what you road you drove,depended what distillery you'd see,such as Macallan etc.Favourite tour was Cardhu,and I seen 35 distillries whilst I was there,not all opened though.👍Oh ,and 3.18 to build a cask,that's impressive.

[@MarkLittler]

Hi Barry - I hope you are well and glad you liked the video! I know - what a great part of the world Speyside is! It sounds like you had a graet trip too. Were there any memorable drams?

[@jackeria]

Such a great insight!! Thank you Mark!!

[@MarkLittler]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jasonballenger2505]

Nicely put together. 👍🏼

[@thenomadicconnoisseur9506]

Fantastic video! I had no idea about the paxarette treated casks used back in the day, us Scots always show a lot of ingenuity when it comes to getting a bargain!

[@MarkLittler]

Hey - glad you liked the video. I just sawy your video about Glenfarclas too - looks great.

[@thenomadicconnoisseur9506]

@@MarkLittler thanks man, it's a fantastic distillery

[@manbirsingh6884]

Great insight mark!

[@denisbrandjes5062]

An informative video Mark. Thanks!

[@galbow2217]

Great video and great information thanks mark

[@M00nkat55]

Clears things up for me

[@SauliJP]

Interesting stuff! 👍🏻

[@MarkLittler]

Glad you think so :) I always feel a little odd making these videos - like, to me it is super intersting, but at the same time the geek level is high! Glad it is appreciated!

[@simongilbert2704]

another great info video ;;

[@justwhisky]

Great content! Cheers 🥃

[@MarkLittler]

Hey - glad you like video! Thanks for taking the time to say so :)

[@alyamaut]

Amigo, thanks a lot for your information, what happens at the end with the sherry in those cask afte 2and a half year? All the best 🤘🤘🤘

[@eymerichinquisitore9022]

Service information: Oloroso is a type of sherry made from Palomino grapes, Pedro Ximenes wine is made from Pedro Ximenes grapes

[@B.H90]

Thanks again for another informative video; does the size of the cask from sherry butt, hogshead, and puncheon ...etc make any difference with quality when buying bottles from single cask releases? Glenfarclas even offer a family cask from 4th refill sherry.

[@jameskaaden6437]

Depends on the bottler I think, but some distilleries/IBs differentiate between finishing and additional maturation when a whisky is transferred into another cask. An additional maturation would be 3 years or more since that is equivalent to the minimum full term maturation for Scotch Whisky. Finishing would be less than 3 years. From a disclosure perspective I rather like this approach.

[@davidowen2834]

A good informative video Mark, enjoyed it. I like a sherried whisky like many others but I actually prefer an ex bourbon cask matured malt.

[@diwangroup1249]

Can’t we add sherry while finishing whsiky and the finished whsiky can have a Similar taste

[@zaphodbeeblebrox9109]

Seems silly to have gotten rid of paxarette, that moves the business out onto the continent rather than keep it in scotland

[@dogsbusiness]

Seems like 'sherried cask' would be more honest than 'sherry cask' ?

[@welshtoro3256]

Or would it Adam? Have a look at my comment.

[@Remrcm]

Glenfiddich Solera.

[@MarkLittler]

I thought this too - but again this is more potentially misleading marketing... From the GF website - it seems to be 'inspired' by the sherry bodegas: "Aged in European oak sherry casks and new oak casks, the whisky is mellowed in our unique Solera Vat, a large oak tun inspired by the sherry bodegas of Spain and Portugal."

[@welshtoro3256]

Misleading as Mark says. Sherry wine is an organic process of maturation. Mixing different ages of whisky has always been done although less so these days. Glenfiddich are using the term 'solera' as a marketing whizz.

[@rocketwhitters]

Bostin video

[@MarkLittler]

Thank you! Glad you liked the video!