Scotch whisky casks enjoy a long product life cycle. Most of the time, they begin as something else.
Most started out life as American bourbon casks before they were shipped to Scotland. Others were Spanish sherry (though nowadays Spanish sherry casks are specially created for the Scotch industry). They can be used to hold whisky multiple times, and it’s not unheard of for a cask to hold whisky for over 70 years, sometimes more.
It’s also not unheard of for whisky casks to move on to a new life, and impart the congeners (science word for flavour compounds) they’ve picked up to new boozy substances.
There are a few drinks out there that have an element of Scotch whisky maturation involved, and they’re worth a try. Here’s just some of the ones that you can find and enjoy.
What’s especially interesting about most of these is that almost all of them involve maturation in casks that once held smoky whisky, so you get bonus points if you enjoy a smoky whisky chaser to compare.
In no particular order:
Beer – Harviestoun Ola Dubh 12Pronounced ‘Ola-doo’, this strong 8% beer is aged for six months in casks that previously held Highland Park whisky. Almost black, it’s won a couple awards in Scotland and is described as having an aroma of smoky Worcestershire sauce, leather, iodine and grilled steak.
Rum – Havana Club Tributo 2018
The Tributo series of rums celebrates the rum production process. Launched in 2016, the latest Tributo rum was unveiled this year at the Havana Habanos Festival. However, I’m not sure what its maturation has to do with the production process. This rum has been finished in Scotch whisky casks that once held peated whisky, meaning this is a peated rum, quite a rare thing. Bonus points if you can drink this particular rum alongside a whisky aged in rum casks, such as the Balvenie Caribbean Cask. Let me know how they measure up to each other.
Tequila – UWA Tequila Reposado
A Scottish-Mexican collaboration, this is the first ever tequila to be entirely aged in casks that previously held Speyside single malt Scotch whisky. I managed to try this one, and while the tequila element is overpowering, there’s a sweetness that the whisky casks might just be responsible for.
Vodka – Chase Islay Whisky Cask Aged Vodka
First released in 2012, some online stores still seem to stock this limited-edition vodka. Aged in casks from the Laphroaig distillery, this means you are looking at one of the world’s only peated vodkas (a bit like the rum listed above). Chase Distillery, the company behind this product, also released a bourbon cask matured vodka at the same time, and has other experimental vodkas that seem quite interesting.
Gin – Pickering Oak Aged Gin
Ok, I admit I’m cheating with this one. Pickering’s oak aged gin series features not one but FIVE different whiskies aged in different types of whisky cask. This Edinburgh distillery has one gin for each of the whisky “regions,” with casks from distilleries in those regions used for the gins’ maturation. This includes the lowlands, highlands, Speyside, Islay, and islands (any of the Scottish islands which isn’t the whisky capital of Islay, really). They’ve been lauded by top whisky writer Charles MacLean as well.
