Black Dog TGR is the most refined Scotch whisky. It goes through the triple maturation process which involves Grain whiskies and Malt whiskies separately matured in American Bourbon Casks and then blended together and matured again in Oloroso Sherry Butts for an extra longer period of time to give the blend a distinctive flavor and a delicate finish.
So what are these American Bourbon Casks?
A Sherry or Bourbon cask is a cask that’s used for maturation of other beverages like Sherry or Bourbon. These are shipped from the USA, because USA law dictates that a bourbon cask can be used only once for production of bourbon. After first use, a cask is useless for the bourbon distiller. So Scots pick it up and the Scotch malt whisky ends up in these casks. So, over the past few decades, more and more ex-bourbon casks were used for the maturation of Scotch whisky.
Sherry casks are larger than bourbon barrels and come in several different sizes. A HOGSHEAD holds 250 liters, while a BUTT is twice that size with 500 liters. Distilleries sometimes use other sizes (like the 450 liter PUNCHEON) as well, but the vast majority of the casks are still barrels, hogsheads & butts. The magic of sherry was uncovered by accident. Scotland relied on oak trees from the forests of England for a long time, but at some point distilleries needed to find an alternative source for their casks. Sherry (fortified Spanish wine) was once very popular on the British Isles.
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| Pic credit : http://www.maltmadness.com/malt-whisky/beginners-guide-05-maturation.html |
Sherry casks were littering the Scottish landscape in the 19th century. Just like empty beer cans and bottles are doing today. In one of the world's first recycling initiatives the Scots started picking up those second hand sherry casks to use them again for the maturation of their whiskies.
These days, both bourbon and sherry casks are used more than once. A sherry cask that has seen four or five fillings is no exception. When a cask has held and aged whisky for the very first time it's called a FIRST-FILL cask, after a second filling with fresh whisky it's a SECOND-FILL cask, etc. With each filling less and less character is transferred to the whisky. And that is the reason why these Sherry casks make the most refined Scotch whisky.
For more information on Sherry and Bourbon casks, please visit this link.
Disclaimer : This post is meant for people above the age of 25 years.
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