The 2024 Bourbon Classic (Louisville, KY) is a week long celebration of the Bourbon Lifestyle. The main weekend events include Friday’s “Chef & Mixologist Pairing Competition” and Saturday’s “Bourbon University” followed by the grand finale “TASTE“. This in itself embodies everything you could possibly want in a sensory indulgent weekend. But now, there’s more;) Feb […]
The 2024 Bourbon Classic (Louisville, KY) is a week long celebration of the Bourbon Lifestyle. The main weekend events include Friday’s “Chef & Mixologist Pairing Competition” and Saturday’s “Bourbon University” followed by the grand finale “TASTE“. This in itself embodies everything you could possibly want in a sensory indulgent weekend. But now, there’s more;)
Feb 22nd, will host not one, but two amazing Culinary & Bourbon immersed experiences. The only downside, you must choose one or the other:(
bac·cha·nal: an occasion of wild and drunken revelry…OK Whiskey Thief Distillery, you have our attention;) Frankfort, KY based Whiskey Thief Distillery is putting on a event with the makings of greatness – Bourbon & Chocolate! Below is their event description, what’s there to contemplate? Event Description TICKET LINK: CLICK HERE Please join us for a hands-on, unforgettable […]
bac·cha·nal: an occasion of wild and drunkenrevelry…OK Whiskey Thief Distillery, you have our attention;)
Frankfort, KY based Whiskey Thief Distillery is putting on a event with the makings of greatness – Bourbon & Chocolate! Below is their event description, what’s there to contemplate?
Please join us for a hands-on, unforgettable Valentine’s celebration with an unparalleled pairing: Whiskey Thief Distilling Co. and Ilan’s Raw Chocolate.
This immersive evening will include your chance to make your own chocolate to take home, taste four Whiskey Thief award-winning bourbons and one rye whiskey straight from the barrel, and fill 2 of your own 200mL limited edition bottles with your favorites of the night. The evening also includes an appetizer bar from Whiskey Thief’s culinary chef, a photo booth, and an open bar at our 127-acre farm distillery paradise to truly create a remarkable evening that will be hard to top.
Tickets are $150 per person and include all of the above with an opportunity to purchase additional 200mL, 375mL, and 750mL bottles of our award-winning bourbon and rye whiskey. Please contact katherine@whiskeythief.com with any questions and we look forward to sharing the night with you.
2024 Bourbon Classic just announced tickets are now on sale for the satellite event TOP SHELF: A Buffalo Trace Antique Collection Experience” taking place at Louisville’s luxuriously eclectic 21c on February 21. Tickets are extremely LIMITED. This special experience entails an intimate evening with a 5 flight tasting of the 2023 BTAC lineup. Culinary might […]
2024 Bourbon Classic just announced tickets are now on sale for the satellite event TOP SHELF: A Buffalo Trace Antique Collection Experience”taking place at Louisville’s luxuriously eclectic 21c on February 21. Tickets are extremely LIMITED.
This special experience entails an intimate evening with a 5 flight tasting of the 2023 BTAC lineup. Culinary might to match the super premium coveted whiskeys will be on hand, provided by 21c’s supremely talented Proof On Main.
SPECIAL GUEST: And perhaps best of all, Buffalo Trace legend Freddie “Daddy ‘O” Johnson will be on hand mingling with attendees.
As if all this isn’t enough, there will be additional bar offering special Buffalo Trace Distillery tastings.
2024 Bourbon Classic, Feb 23 – 24, Louisville
The 2024 Bourbon Classic weekend experience takes place Friday and Saturday, Feb 23 – 24, at Louisville’s “KY International Convention Center”. This is the epicurean trifecta of experiences: Culinary, Cocktail, and Bourbon.
OK, yeah, this is a super bougie Bourbon auction where pricing will exceed most of our budgets. However, it is cool to look at some bottle eye candy and some of the rarest most coveted Bourbon & American Whiskies. LIVE NOW is Sotheby’s Whisky & Whiskey | Festive Spirits and American Classics, an unmatched assembly […]
OK, yeah, this is a super bougie Bourbon auction where pricing will exceed most of our budgets. However, it is cool to look at some bottle eye candy and some of the rarest most coveted Bourbon & American Whiskies.
LIVE NOW is Sotheby’s Whisky & Whiskey | Festive Spirits and American Classics, an unmatched assembly of one-of-a-kind American whiskey from the early 20th century through the golden era of private bottling in the 2000s, a period during which – despite low consumer demand for American whiskey – visionary distillers and producers turned out some of the best bourbon and rye ever bottled. The collection is replete with legendary bottles including LeNell’s Red Hook Rye, D.H Cromwell and several extremely rare bottles from the A.H. Hirsch line of whiskeys – a selection unlikely to be repeated anytime soon (full details below).
A majority of the collection is significantly older than the standard bourbon and rye sold domestically, and was intended for export to Japan and Europe, where collectors clamored for well-aged American whiskey. Released in very small batches, only a handful of bottles eventually made it back to the United States, making them almost impossible to find at any price today.
Copy and descriptions below were provided by Sotheby’s.
Corti Brothers is a gourmet grocery store in Sacramento, California, that in the 1980s became one of the earliest buyers for Julian Van Winkle III’s bourbon, which he was buying from Stitzel-Weller and bottling at his Old Commonwealth distillery. The people at Corti Brothers were far ahead of the whiskey curve, and they ordered 19-year-old bourbon at a time when well-aged American whiskey was practically non-existent – bottles like this one constitute the first known private-barrel bourbon selection. It was Darrell Corti, who ran the business at the time, who first convinced Van Winkle to use a cognac-style bottle. Today bottles from Van Winkle that carry the Corti Brothers name rank among the rarest and most sought-after whiskeys in the world. Van Winkle Special Reserve 20-Year Old-Cork N Bottle 90.4 Proof Estimate: $20,000 – $30,000
Gordon Hue, the owner of the Cork N Bottle liquor store in northern Kentucky, teamed with Julian Van Winkle III in the 1980s and 1990s to create some of the most iconic whiskeys America has ever seen – including this, among the first 20-year-old bourbons offered by Van Winkle and a complete game-changer in terms of pushing up age statements on American whiskey, at a time when bourbon appreciation was at its nadir. Today, the Cork N Bottle releases of Van Winkle Special Reserve rank among the pinnacles of the legendary label. D.H. Cromwell 15 Year Black 1999-2000 Estimate: $15,000 – $20,000
One of the rarest whiskeys produced by Julian Van Winkle III at his Old Commonwealth Distillery, this bottle – one of just 72 – pays tribute to a famed Milwaukee bar owner named Helen Cromell (she often added a W to her last name because she said it was easier to remember). Nicknamed Dirty Helen for her spicy vocabulary, she was a diehard fan of Old Fitzgerald bourbon and a close friend of the Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle. Cromell died in 1969, and in 2000 Van Winkle III prepared this one-time release in coordination with Gordon Jackson, owner of Old Town Liquors in Louisville. True to her personality, the letters VGS on the label stand for “Very Good Sh!@.” LeNell’s Red Hook Rye 23 Year Old Barrel #1 67.6 abv Estimate: $20,000 – $30,000
In the 2000s, LeNell Santa Ana Camacho owned a specialty liquor store in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. Ahead of her time, she reveled in American whiskey: She not only carried brands like Pappy Van Winkle in her shop, but she traveled to Kentucky to see how she could source more. On one of those trips, she met Drew Kulsveen of the Willett distillery; they got to talking, and soon the two were selecting four barrels of rye whiskey, aged between 23 and 24 years and bottled at cask strength. It was a great choice: the barrels came from a legendary run of whiskey distilled at the Bernheim Distillery, in Louisville, in the early 1980s. Other legendary whiskeys came from the same batch, like Rathskeller Rye and the Bitter Truth, but LeNell’s Red Hook Rye has emerged as the most distinctive and sought after American whiskey, perhaps of all time. To top it all off, this bottle is signed by LeNell herself. Rathskeller Rye 136 Proof Estimate: $18,000 – $24,000
Built by two German immigrants in an opulent European style, the Seelbach is Louisville’s grandest hotel. In its basement sits the Rathskeller, a ceramic-encrusted pub that today is used as a ballroom. In 2007 the hotel’s owners commissioned the Willett Distillery to bottle two whiskeys, a bourbon and a rye, to commemorate its rich history. The 24-year-old rye, known as Rathskeller, came from the same run of whiskey that went into bottles like Doug’s Green Ink and LeNell’s Red Hook Rye. Michter’s Single Barrel Rye 25 Year Old 117.3 Proof Estimate: $15,000 – $20,000
Beginning in the late 1990s, the spirits importer Joe Magliocco and his team at Michter’s, a brand he had resurrected a few years earlier, began buying up old stocks of bourbon and rye from distilleries around Kentucky. They bottled them first at 10 years old, then later at 25 years. The first 25-year-old rye release, including this bottle, appeared in 2011, and quickly set the standard for what great old rye should taste like. At the time Michter’s contracted with Willett to bottle for them. After 2013, Michter’s did the bottling themselves. Old Rip Van Winkle 18 Year Old Blue Smoke 92.6 Proof Estimate: $20,000 – $30,000
The early 2000s were a high time for Julian Van Winkle III – he signed an agreement to distill and bottle his brands at Buffalo Trace, ensuring a future for the Van Winkle label, while at the same time he bottled a series of private-label whiskeys that have since become legendary. Among them is this bottle from 2003, which he created for Blue Smoke, a BBQ restaurant in downtown Manhattan. With its red background and bold typefaces, it is easily the most distinctive label Van Winkle ever produced. Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Bourbon 28 Year Old 128.8 Proof Estimate: $10,000 – $15,000
Pacific Edge, a wine and spirits shop in Agoura Hills, California, was an early and ardent fan of the Willett Distillery’s Family Estate program. Barrels they selected would be bottled with a standard Willett label, with the details about proof, age and customer filled in by hand (at first). Because the shop got in early, it was able to purchase unbelievable barrels, like this 28-year-old bourbon. Old Rip Van Winkle 25 Year Old Decanter 50.0 abv Estimate: $20,000 – $30,000
At 25 years, this is the oldest Van Winkle whiskey ever released – the “Pappy of Pappys,” it’s called, not only because of its unmistakable flavor profile but because it is by far the best, rarest, most coveted bottle the Julian Van Winkle III has ever produced. It appeared in 2014, and only 710 were made. The wheated bourbon inside comes from Stitzel-Weller and is some of the last the distillery made before closing down in 1992. The bottle comes in a wooden box with an accompanying crystal stopper, made by Glencairn. This is pure, unadulterated bourbon luxury, in a bottle, and well worth every penny one pays for it. A.H. Hirsch Reserve 15 Year Old 95.6 Proof 1974 Estimate: $5,000 – $7,000
This bottle ranks among the rarest bourbons ever produced. Its story began in 1974, when a Pennsylvania liquor executive named Adolph H. Hirsch ordered a run of bourbon from the Pennco Distillery, near Philadelphia. He later sold it to a Kentucky liquor retailer named Gordon Hue, who had it bottled by Julian Van Winkle III at his Old Commonwealth Distillery. They began in 1989 with 15-year-old whiskey, sealed in gold wax, making this bottle one of the very first released in what would become the most legendary runs of American whiskey ever.
The “Sazerac Barrel Select” Program is ending the year on a high note. The upcoming drawing will be on December 24th as the program’s site notes Weller Full Proof, Stagg, Blanton’s, and Buffalo Trace. Talk about about a Merry Christmas! More below on how to set up your SBS profile. By Dec 17th, you must […]
The “Sazerac Barrel Select” Program is ending the year on a high note. The upcoming drawing will be on December 24th as the program’s site notes Weller Full Proof, Stagg, Blanton’s, and Buffalo Trace. Talk about about a Merry Christmas!
More below on how to set up your SBS profile. By Dec 17th, you must enter your “Brand Preferences” for the upcoming drawing. Good luck!
This program allows you, the consumer, the opportunity to be selected for your OWN BARREL of Buffalo Trace Distillery made whiskey! #NBD. To enter the SBS Program, all you need to do is jump on the page, fill out the simple form, and that’s it!
WHICH BRANDS ARE OFFERED: This will vary per drawing. SBS members will be notified prior which brands will be available for that specific drawing opportunity.
Bourbon Classic (Feb 21 – 24, Louisville, KY) is a celebration of the best of the best in BOURBON, CULINARY, and COCKTAILS, aka the “epicurean trifecta”. We hope you’ll join us for the sensory experience of a lifetime! PURCHASE TICKETS Friday, February 23: Cocktail & Culinary Challenge Cocktail & Culinary Challenge – featuring Bourbon cocktails […]
Bourbon Classic (Feb 21 – 24, Louisville, KY) is a celebration of the best of the best in BOURBON, CULINARY, and COCKTAILS, aka the “epicurean trifecta”. We hope you’ll join us for the sensory experience of a lifetime!
Friday, February 23: Cocktail & Culinary Challenge
Cocktail & Culinary Challenge – featuring Bourbon cocktails and small plate pairings from top talent chefs and bartenders and a closing awards ceremony.
Saturday, February 24: “Bourbon University” and “TASTE”
Bourbon University – Bourbon immersed sessions where education meets entertainment. TASTE – an exclusive opportunity to sample a variety of different Bourbons and enjoy delicious dishes from our featured restaurants.
2024 weekend events will take place at the Kentucky International Convention Center, located in the heart of downtown Louisville, easy walking distance to the nearby urban distilleries.
Special events are also being planned for February 21 and 22. Additional details to be announced.
Tickets are going fast, so be sure to get yours soon!
SPECIAL HOTEL RATE: Book your experience at the Louisville Marriott Downtown (280 W Jefferson St, Louisville, KY 40202)
We recently wrapped our first annual Bourbon & Banter Community Summit held in Louisville, Kentucky. We were thrilled to be able to mix and mingle with our community members from across the country IRL. If you’re curious what it’s like to be a member of our community, here are a few highlights.
At Bourbon & Banter, we are proud of the honest and unfiltered content we provide to our readers. But more than that, we are even prouder to build and foster an incredible community for whiskey lovers. Our community is unique in that we welcome people from all walks of their whiskey journey and more importantly, provide a platform and outlet for open and frank conversation. It isn’t a place to outdo one another on how many allocated bottles are stowed away in your whiskey bunker, but a place to learn from industry experts and insiders what is really going on in the world of whiskey.
We recently wrapped our first annual Bourbon & Banter Community Summit held in Louisville, Kentucky. We were thrilled to be able to mix and mingle with our community members from across the country IRL. If you’re curious what it’s like to be a member of our community, here are a few highlights and reflections from the weekend:
Barrel pick at Four Roses Cox’s Creek
Barrel pick, distillery tour, and flavor education at Green River Distilling
Rye tasting, distillery tour, and cocktails at Michter’s Fort Nelson
Barrel Magic class, bourbon tasting, and cocktails at Buzzard’s Roost
Craft Shoot live and interactive tasting
Multiple swag giveaways that included branded merch from over a dozen distilleries, high end items like Columbia jackets and ice sphere presses
Private dinner and bottle share catered by Mercenary BBQ (our resident vegetarian’s favorite purveyor of meat)
Epic bottle shares with 100+ different labels with whiskeys from four continents and attended by community members and whiskey industry insiders
Private dinner and cocktails at Watch Hill Proper
Complimentary custom cigars
Trip to Art Eatables complete with whiskey and chocolate pairings
I was thrilled to participate in this inaugural event. Throughout the weekend, I was struck by the generosity, geniality, and genuine connections shared by all. It was wonderful reconnecting with friends I’d known for years, putting a face to the tiny profile photo I interact with on social media, and meeting brand new folks, all over a shared dram. Whiskey is delicious but what makes it special is the community it brings together. At Bourbon & Banter, we lean in hard to the community and I am so thankful and honored to be a mainstay of that group.
Here’s what other Bourbon & Banter contributors had to say about the event:
This past weekend was amazing. As we were sitting around the fire pit late Saturday night, Pops and I were discussing the past few days as we finished our cigars. We were talking about how well the first-ever Bourbon & Banter Community Summit went and how much fun everyone seemed to have. Pops and I are usually the last people standing after these events and this night was no different. After three jam-packed days of bourbon events, we finally had time to download and look back on the past 72 hours.
Erin hit the highlights and we did pick two great barrels for our members but that was not the best part for us. As Pops and I were talking, we realized that we had accomplished exactly what we set out to do when we decided to focus on our members beyond just blog content. We were able to provide unique, fun, and exclusive experiences for our community members. Of course, barrel picks are bucket list highlights for everyone and it is always one of my favorite events, but the people are what makes it special.
Like taking your kid to Disney, I get that same feeling when we bring a Community Member to take part in their first barrel pick. These weekends are all about shared experiences and I really enjoy watching a barrel pick rookie get to thief from a barrel for the first time, fill their sample glasses, and watch them process all that is a private pick. Whether it is thieving directly from different barrels on the floor of a rickhouse or staring down at a tasting mat full of ten Glencairns while trying to figure out just what they have gotten themselves into, I just like being able to share it with others. I enjoy the sometimes-heated discussions during private picks about what barrel is best and then still being able to discuss it hours later over more pours of bourbon.
Speaking of sampling different pours, we also hosted two different bottle shares over the weekend. The first one on Friday night was attended by more than 25 people and the second one had about 16 attendees. As I was talking with Pops around the fire, I realized that not only was it a great time, but that I was able to personally talk to every single person there. Obviously, some discussions were much longer than others, but I was grateful that everyone took time out of their busy lives to come hang out and revel in the Bourbon & Banter experience. I am sure the 100+ different bottles to choose from helped as well. Again, I keep coming back to the people. This weekend was all about our Members and being able to provide them with experiences and true value for their membership. The swag giveaways were a nice bonus, too.
Now we need to figure out how to make our next Community Member Summit even better. We are open to suggestions. Let us know.
– Brent Joseph, Single Barrel Program Coordinator & Senior Contributor
Make new friends, taste new whiskeys, experience new stuff—a Bourbon & Banter Summit
Despite my living in Louisville, schedule conflicts this year saw me experience a Summette, as in a slice of the Summit. And that’s a drag. Few things make for a better event than these annual get-togethers because there are always new friends to be made and old ones to revisit.
I caught up with the gang on Friday night for our bottle share and Mercenary BBQ chowdown. (If you don’t already know, bourbon and barbecue is one of the best food and whiskey pairings, period.) I may have known half of the 25-ish people there, but I got to meet all of them before the night was over. Several of the guys brought their wives, which needs to happen more often. (If you’re reading this, Leslie Coomes, you’re coming next year!) Ladies don’t just class up the joint, they have great perspectives on food, whiskey, work and life. Fact is, we don’t talk whiskey to death at these events, we do a great job of getting to know each other—between bites of Mercenary BBQ, of course.
Wish I could have stayed later, but we had a morning rye tasting at The Bar at Fort Nelson, a slice of New York on the second floor of Michter’s Distillery’s tourist center and distillery. Unlike the previous night’s more gregarious bottle share, we all had some sit-down face time at tables while nosing and sipping Michter’s terrific rye line. I like bouncing around a loud room and meeting new people as much as anyone, but getting to know more about people over drinks at a classy bar … that’s hard to beat. As were the cocktails: as good as any anywhere.
Trust me, you don’t want to miss this Summit next year, and I’ll be sure to block out my schedule better and avoid another Summette.
If this sounds like an incredible time to you, be sure to sign up for the Bourbon & Banter community today. Membership includes access to our single barrel club, which will be releasing our picks from Four Roses and Green River just in time for the holidays. And did we mention a membership also makes a fantastic holiday gift?
There are certain moments in my whiskey journey that I’ll never forget (most of which were firsts): my first sip of 1980’s Wild Turkey, meeting Jimmy and Eddie Russell for the first time, my first Russell’s Reserve private selection, the publication of…
There are certain moments in my whiskey journey that I’ll never forget (most of which were firsts): my first sip of 1980’s Wild Turkey, meeting Jimmy and Eddie Russell for the first time, my first Russell’s Reserve private selection, the publication of my first book, among others. But one that will surely rank as the […]
London Cocktail Week is now on, with bars across the city welcoming curious drinkers to try great cocktails and much more. Nestled in amongst the more traditional cocktail events, there are a few rather special…
London Cocktail Week is now on, with bars across the city welcoming curious drinkers to try great cocktails and much more. Nestled in amongst the more traditional cocktail events, there are a few rather special whisky tastings – just the thing for the discerning drinkers looking for drams you can’t find anywhere else.
What is London Cocktail Week?
Now in its 14th year, London Cocktail Week is a celebration of the capital’s drinks scene. London has been at the forefront of cocktails since the term was invented, with famous bars and restaurants defining the spirit of innovation at the heart of the cocktail world. LCW taps into that and offers great deals and special drinks, as well as a huge range of events, this year running from 12 to 22 October.
Quite a lot of bars…
Its simple: buy a wristband online, turn up to one of the 200+ venues taking part across the city, collect your physical wristband from the bar, and then enjoy special menus and discounted drinks. The bars taking part stretch from Wood Green in the north to Brixton in the south, and Canning Town in the East to Shepherds Bush over in the west – so you should be able to find something near you.
You can find wristbands here and they only cost £15, with discounts on group bundles. You can find out more about the festival on the London Cocktail Week website.
The Connoisseur’s Collection
Along with great drinks and events through the week (well, eleven days) there is a small selection of very special tastings that focus on impressive drinks, including some which were exclusive to The Whisky Exchange when they were released. These bottles rarely get an outing these days, with most of them hidden away in collections or already drunk, so these events are great if you’re after something you won’t find elsewhere.
You can find a complete list of the Connoisseur’s Collection here, but one has very much caught our eye:
Sexy Fish is London’s top location for Japanese whisky. While, as the name suggests, it is mostly a restaurant specialising in Japanese-inspired takes on seafood, the bar is a whisky-lover’s dream, with long-sold out releases open and available to try.
The Top Shelf Whisky experience for LCW is particularly special, with a selection of whiskies that shocked even The Whisky Exchange team, including bottles that we thought long gone:
Hanyu The Joker (Colour Label) – a strong opener, we launched this bottling back in 2014 (read all about it here on the blog) and it has since become a legendary expression from this lost distillery. It’s a complex mix of six vintages between 1985 and 2000 and seven different cask types, all pulled together by former Hanyu boss and Chichibu founder Ichiro Akuto.
Karuizawa 30yo Bourbon Cask #8606 First Geisha – maybe my favourite Karuizawa of all time, and a style that we have rarely seen. We launched this at Whisky Show way back in 2013 as the first in the Karuizawa Geishas series. The lost (and demolished) distillery is best known for its sherry-matured whiskies, but the rarely seen bourbon casks are the real stars for me – elegant old wood, wax polish, honey and layers of fruit, all wrapped up with a touch of incense. Stunning whisky.
Yamazaki Mizunara Cask 2013 Edition – one of those whiskies that passed under the radar only to pick up a fearsome reputation years later. The Yamazaki cask collection also featured the Yamazaki Sherry Cask release that Jim Murray named Best Whisky in the World, promptly catapulting Japanese whisky into the limelight and breaking the internet. However, for me it was the Mizunara cask that was the star of the range, eschewing a big sherry-cask punch for the more understated mizunara – Japanese oak. Layers of spice, incense and sandalwood, all well-integrated and complemented by the distillery’s underlying fruity character. A rarely seen treat.
Chichibu Sexy Fish Edition #5253 Chassagne-Montrachet Pinot Noir Cask – as the UK’s source of whisky from cult Japanese distillery Chichibu, we worked with Sexy Fish to select this single cask and get it on their bar. This has never been publicly for sale by the bottle (although a few have trickled out into the wild) and is sold only by the measure in the bar. If you want to try it, you have to go to Sexy Fish, which is not a hardship.
At £335, it’s not a cheap line-up, but considering the whiskies on the mat, it’s a relative bargain.
More cocktail week goodness
We thoroughly recommend digging through the bar list, seeking out events and taking a chance on something that looks interesting, especially if it’s a new experience. London Cocktail Week is the perfect chance to expand your drinking horizons, and with so many bars across town joining in, you’re sure to find something that’ll make your week.
There is an increasingly noticeable nip in the air and the leaves are taking on the deep copper tones of a sherry-cask-aged whisky. Apt then that this is a style of whisky, with their notes…
There is an increasingly noticeable nip in the air and the leaves are taking on the deep copper tones of a sherry-cask-aged whisky. Apt then that this is a style of whisky, with their notes of sweet spice, dried fruit and nuts, most suited to the season.
In celebration of these whiskies, on Thursday 26 October Billy Abbott, our ambassador, will be hosting a tasting at our Great Portland Street shop exploring a selection of our exclusive sherry-cask-aged drams including our Lagavulin 1991 Cask of Distinction.
Why sherry casks?
All whisky, with a very small number of exceptions, has to be aged in an oak cask. Particularly in the making of Scotch whisky, these tend to have aged something else previously, with one of the most important being casks that previously held sherry
Historically sherry was shipped to Scotland in huge 500-litre casks called butts, and these, once emptied of their contents, proved ideal for maturing whisky, adding layers of dried fruit and nutty flavours.
There is an incredible variety of different sherry styles, from delicate fino and salty manzanilla to nutty oloroso, amontillado and sweet, treacly Pedro Ximénez.
These can each leave behind their own profiles as a ghostly presence within the cask. Oloroso, which is by far and away the most common sherry to be filled into whisky casks, brings notes of coffee and nuts to the final whisky, while Pedro Ximénez brings unctuous dried fruit.
How is sherry aged?
All of the different styles of sherry come from the Sherry Triangle in Andalusia in the south of Spain. Here they use an ancient and complex system of solera ageing to create wines in a consistent style.
Wine is bottled from the bottom of the solera, but the casks are never emptied. Instead, a third of the wine will be extracted for bottling and the casks will be refilled with wine from the layer above. They are in turn refilled with wine from the next layer up, with new wines filled into the top layer.
These solera casks are very seldom used to age anything other than sherry. In Scottish warehouses, they would repurpose casks that had transported the sherry to age their whisky. A notable modern exception is whisky from Millstone – distiller Patrick van Zuidam loves solera casks, and uses them to create a very different take on sherry-matured spirit, like our own exclusive Millstone 2017.
Between sherry’s decline in popularity and a change in the law in the 1980s that stopped its export in casks, the amount of sherry-soaked wood available to age whisky has been seriously squeezed.
Whisky producers have had to step in and support sherry bodegas to ensure a consistent supply, with the value of the wood now greater than the liquid it once contained, and with whisky makers keen to get the most out of these precious vessels.
Sherry-cask-aged whiskies are some of the most exciting and most celebrated of drams and at The Whisky Exchange we are fortunate to have an incredible selection of exclusives to share with you.
The Tasting
On Thursday 26 October 2024, The Whisky Exchange’s ambassador Billy Abbott (That’s me – ed) will be hosting a tasting of some of our sherry-cask-matured exclusive bottlings. We haven’t revealed the entire line-up, as we like to make sure there are some surprises, but we can reveal that we will be tasting a range of drams to show the versatility of sherry casks. From a refill-butt-matured Benrinnes 2009 to the dark, smoky and sticky solera-cask-aged Millstone 2017, with a pit-stop at our Glenfarclas 25 Year Old London Edition, we’ll be showing off not only what you can do with a cask, but also the styles of sherry-matured whisky that we love.
This very much peaks with our very special Lagavulin 1991 31 Year Old Cask of Distinction, matured in a single first-fill Pedro Ximénez hogshead. It was one of the stars of Whisky Show 2023, and it’s a whisky we’re very much looking forward to sharing again.
If you’re new to sherry casks and want to learn more, or if you are a veteran wanting to taste some excellent whiskies, make sure you come along to the tasting.
