Whisky matured on oloroso sherry casks and color / coloring

[djrussobik at AOL.COM]

I beleive some sweeter/darker varieties of sherry contain some sweeting (and presumably, darkening) PX-derived component, even if the result is not labelled "Pedro Ximemez".  Not exactly sure (memory a bit cloudy), but I believe this applies to Sweet Olorosos and "Cream" sherries.  There are so many types and variations on Sherry, that I believe it is unreliable to draw conclusions from sparse evidence/experience with sherry color.
 
There are certainly lots of light-colored Sherries out there, and certainly lots of "Sherry Casked Whisky" that was not matured in a first-fill Sherry Cask.  But I have NEVER seen an uncolored (i.e., un-carmelized) whisky much darker than full-gold/yellow-amber if it's been matured in a Bourbon cask, or other non-sherry cask, regardless of the period of maturation (age statement)!
 
I also strongly suspect that the REALLY dark, really good, really complex sherry casked whiskies we used to see more regularly (witness 1960's and 70's Springbanks, venerable Glen Grants or Bunny's) were often aged in retired "Solera" barrels, barrels that held long-aging and fractionally mixed "premium" sherries for decades or even centuries, before being retired.  A totally different animal that barrels purpose-made and purpose-filled for the Scotch Whisky industry, holding any-old-Sherry-at-all for maybe a few weeks or months, and certainly not repeatedly refilled/refereshed with top-quality Sherries over a long period of time.  Still perfectly correct and "legal" to call the former "Sherry Casks" and calling whisky aged in them as such -- and I believe the preponderance of "Sherry Casked Whisky" we see today is of this type and quality.  My further guess is that this due to two factors:  (1) reduced demand for and production of top-drawer (Solera) sherry, (2) the inexorable drift toward the absolute minimum quality and cost required for whisky to legally bear a desirable designation.  Just because you call something the same doesn't MAKE IT the same!
 
 Slainte!
   DR
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Dejong <paul_dejong at TELENET.BE>
To: David Russo <DJRussoBik at AOL.COM>
Sent: Thu, 15 Jun 2006 12:06:27 +0200
Subject: Re: Whisky matured on oloroso sherry casks and color / coloring


Thnx Horst... That was already clear to me... But we have had cask-samples
from 20 tot 30yo oloroso sherry from 4 or 5 big bodega's (i'll get the names
from the bodega's) from white and red oak casks... As I said: those sherry's
were at least 3 or 4 tints lighter in colour than some of the single cask
sherry matured whisky's I know... And they were very surprised when we asked
for darker sherry...and showed us the PX-casks...now they were the colour we
expected!
So I ask again: (on the virge of becoming boring! ;-)  )
Is spirit extracting more color from the wood then sherry is?
Is sherry colored or mixed before bottled? Or in the cask?
Could those old 'oloroso' casks have been PX-casks?

Paul
(thnx for al the reply's boys!  I almost feared Malts-L had lost it's edge!)


On 6/15/06 9:23 AM, "Horst Luening" <luening at DR-LUENING.DE> wrote:

>> From Jerez?
>> I believe you Luc, but how does this oloroso comes to it¹s colour?
>> Since in Jerez oloroso is made from white grapes (palomino)
>> Different grapes? Different production method? What makes it different?
>> 
>> Paul
> 
> Hello Paul,
> 
> Your expectations are right. It is the different production method.
> You distinguish between oxidised and non-oxidised sherrys.
> 
> If the yeast covers the top of the cask, then oxygen is not able
> to contact the sherry. It stays light.
> 
> Please have a look at the Madeira. They are heating and mixing
> the wine in big steel tanks until the wine has oxydised completely.
> 
> The result is a dark brown wine.
> 
> Regards,
> Horst
> 
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