K - Bourbon Whisky and Contentious Content Warning

[Thomas Sundblom]

Ralph.

Usually the industry has no real background facts about their casks. They have their deals with different suppliers in the States to get a hugh amount of casks. Although it would be possible to track each cask that is not knocked down since they do have information eighter burned into or stamped on them, in a simliar way as the Scottish industry did with their painted cask ends (they tend to move to barcodes nowadays). But i'm quite sure that they don't do that except for a very limited number of casks.
It's very few producers that really has an idea about the condition of the cask they are about to fill. But, there are a few companies, usually smaller, that try hard to have a cask policy. Even some independant bottlers who buys new make are keen on having their own , well known, casks filled with newmake.

I have made two pictures available that you can look at:
http://www.sundblom.se/temp/BourbonCaskPICT0838.jpg
http://www.sundblom.se/temp/BourbonCaskPICT0839.jpg
They both shows casks that is to be filled at Glenmorangie some years ago.


Cheers

__________________________________________________________
Thomas Sundblom

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ralph Katzenell" <ralphoosh at 012.NET.IL>
To: <MALTS-L at LISTS.UNI-KARLSRUHE.DE>
Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 12:05 PM
Subject: Re: K - Bourbon Whisky and Contentious Content Warning


Thomas.

Yup! What you say seems right to me. But it is not the core point that I am trying to chase down. Which is, do the casks/staves, known to be from the seven American whiskies that did not have additives, have an unambigious audit trail separate from casks/staves that previously held bourbon with additives? 

Of interest as it relates to the products for the great unwashed, knocking back their blended Johhnie Walkers, and Bells this and that, trailing their knuckles on the ground as they stagger from pillar to post after a hard Saturday bevying and scoffing soggy fish and chips. Do the really big mass production processes know the exact provenance of each cask? And even if they do, what practical effect on filling processes does this have at the Caledonian end of the whisky trail? 

And just for a moment, a pause to ponder on our lovely end of the market. If it says "Bourbon" casked, does anyone know if this means casked from one of the magnificent seven, or could the cask also perhaps be from the dirty two and a half dozen?

Questions! Questions!.

Another one has just this very minute ocurred to me. When the marketeers assure us that the cask was "Bourbon", what do they REALLY mean? Which of the Super Seven come under that word?

Ooooh! A general, non-K, non-Kontroversial Komment topic !!

Go for it, lads.

Uncle Ralph

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