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While we often look at spirits aging through the lens of popular climates and standard barrels—used cooperage in the cool climate of Scotland or new charred oak barrels in hot, humid summers and cold winters of Kentucky—many now-enshrined methods were born of efficiency considerations and political realities more than quality concerns. In places not beholden to specific traditions and regulations, different opportunities present themselves, and different takes on efficiency can become the norm.
Take Melbourne, Australia, for example, where this episode’s guest, Jarrad Hucksold, spent almost a decade as head blender for Starward Whisky. The popularity of wine in Australia has created a steady supply of used wooden casks, making them an accessible and flexible vessel for extended maturation. But understanding the way the local environment affects those casks as they mature was key to creating great stock for their blends.
In this episode, Huckshold and host Molly Troupe discuss:
- taking a winemaker’s approach to whiskey maturation
- how fortified wine barrels interact with aging liquid inside them
- re-coopering and re-charring used barrels for better spirits aging
- managing sulfur in used wine barrels
- reactive maturation environments and avoiding over-extraction because of temperature fluctuations
- training one’s palate for the precise sensory work of blending
- maintaining consistency in blends through solera aging
And more.
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