Whisk(e)y Finishing Flourishes

Our latest whisky tasting took place on Thursday last week – our focus and theme for this whisky tasting was cask finishing. We tasted six different whiskies from Ireland, South Africa and Scotland that were finished in a range of different cask types.

For this event we also paired together with Tanya and Charles, who run a small Italian-inspired pop-up pasta restaurant during the busy holiday periods in Kenton-on-Sea. They kindly shared their lovely home with us for event, and also provided everyone with dinner after the tasting. With an Italian meal in mind, we deliberately chose to include a couple of wine cask finished whiskies in our tasting line up!

Whisky finishing (also sometimes called 'secondary maturation') is when a whisky is transferred from the cask it’s aging in into a second, different kind of cask – e.g., a whisky aging in an ex-bourbon cask can be moved into (and ‘finished’ in) an ex-sherry cask.

Whisky finishing is actually a relatively recent phenomenon, as the practice only began in earnest in the 1980s. Nowadays, most distilleries play around with different kinds of cask finishes in order to produce whisky with new and unique flavours and characteristics. Common whisky finishes you’ll see include rum cask finishes, port and craft beer finishes, and a variety of wine cask finishes. There are also quite a few whiskies on the market that are now being finished in ex-Islay casks – a region known for their smoky whisky, finishing a whisky in an ex-Islay cask is a way of imparting a subtle smoky flavour to a whisky. But whiskies can also be finished in casks that haven’t held anything before (virgin oak casks), or casks of a different size (quarter casks, for example).

There are, however, some truly unusual cask finishes out there – including whisky finished in tabasco barrels, like Westland’s ‘Inferno’ (a single malt from the USA). I hadn't paid close attention before, so I didn't realise that tabasco sauce spent any time in wooden barrels, but apparently being aged in wooden barrels is a key part of the famous tabasco sauce-making process!

And in 2007, an independent bottler got their hands on a single cask of whisky from Bruichladdich and experimented with finishing the whisky in barrels that used to contain herring! They called the result ‘Fishky’. This was actually not as insane as it sounds, as it’s purported that historically early Scottish distillers may have occasionally used fish barrels for the aging of whisky - I can only imagine out of necessity. There were mixed reviews from those who tried this particular whisky, with a few saying it was actually quite nice, while others said it was the worst whisky they’d ever tasted.

Sadly, we weren’t able to source either of these for our tasting as they were released as novelty, once-off editions. I’m not 100% sure I would have enjoyed either of them, but I am sure that they would have provided a very interesting tasting experience!

Below are the whiskies we did end up choosing for our tasting which showcase a variety of different cask finishes:

• Jameson Stout Cask Edition: a blended Irish whiskey that was finished in craft stout beer casks.

• Three Ships 6 Chenin Blanc: a 6-year-old single grain whisky from South Africa finished in Chenin Blanc casks (this whisky is actually made from 100% malted barley, but due to whisky regulations it cannot be called a single malt because it’s distilled using a column still and not a pot still).

• Loch Lomond 6 Buitenverwachting: a 6-year-old single malt from Scotland finished in wine barrels from South Africa’s Buitenverwachting wine estate.

• Glenmorangie 14 Quinta Ruban: a 14-year-old single malt from Scotland finished in ruby port casks from Portugal.

• Jura 12: a gently peated 12-year-old single malt from Scotland finished in Oloroso sherry casks (the classic finish!).

• Smokehead Rum Rebel: an intensely smoky Scottish single malt from an undisclosed Islay distillery, finished in Caribbean rum casks.