Whisky matured on oloroso sherry casks and color / coloring

[Horst Luening]

Hello,

I have not followed this thread completely, so please be forgiving, if I
repeat an already given answer.

Might it be possible, that the difference in wood species makes up the
difference?

In the US we have a 100% use of American White Oak (Fagaceae Quercus
alba(white))
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=35
The wood of this tree is really white immediately after chopping down the
lumber.

European oak for the sherry production consists of several species:
(hispanica(spanish), rubra(red), velutina (black), aso)
The color of the wood varies from light brown to dark tan.
http://www.woodzone.com/woods/european_oak.htm

I heard from Macallan, that they are experimenting with different species
and different growing regions.

And there might be another factor. American Standard Barrels (ASBs) are
always toasted and flamed. The charcoal on the inner surface filters a lot
of 'ingredients'. Perhaps also the color? Young whiskey from ASBs varies
significantly in color. Also Gentleman Jack (two times filtered) has a
lighter color than JD7. Despite the fact, that they have quite the same age.

The casks from European Oak are most often only toasted and not flamed. This
might therefore tend to a darker maturation.

Regards,
Horst



Hi all,
Honestly I have my doubts, surely newmakes are different.
But concerning the colour I assume that the chemical differences in the
newmakes, concerning the amount of different alcohols (lighter/heavier)are
not so unequal that they would influence the dissolving power so strong,
that you can say :  "A lighter spirit is usually not as dark as an oilier
one."

Bernhard

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: MALTS-L at RZ.UNI-KARLSRUHE.DE [mailto:MALTS-L at RZ.UNI-KARLSRUHE.DE] Im
Auftrag von Thomas Sundblom
Gesendet: Freitag, 16. Juni 2006 08:59
An: MALTS-L at LISTS.UNI-KARLSRUHE.DE
Betreff: Re: Whisky matured on oloroso sherry casks and color / coloring

Sorry all.
A missunderstang from bad writing.

What i meant by this was that since the different newmakes has different
contents, they get their colour from the casks in different amounts. A
lighter spirit is usually not as dark as an oilier one.

Sorry again.
Thomas

__________________________________________________________
Thomas Sundblom

----- Original Message -----
From: "J. Stephen Lure" <jstephenlure at YAHOO.COM>
To: <MALTS-L at LISTS.UNI-KARLSRUHE.DE>
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 3:52 PM
Subject: Whisky matured on oloroso sherry casks and color / coloring


> Hi Thomas,
>   Just one question: What do you mean by " It also well known that newmake
from different
> distilleries got coloured in different ways."?
>   One can read it as if some distilleries colour their newmake. This
surely isn't the case, is it?
>   Cheers,
> JESPER
>
> [...]
> It also well known that newmake from different distilleries got coloured
in different ways.
> I have seen and tasted 3 yo Glenfarclas that was matured in sherry butts
that was fresh, in that
> perspective that the wood was in very good shape. The 3yo was dark as 15yo
Macallan, although
> not as redish yet.
>   So to your question: It's the european wood that do much of the trick,
together with the newmake
> and also the liquid that used cask before.
> [...]
>
>
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