Barrels Used For Scotch Whisky Production
Scotlands distilleries do not use new and selfmade barrels for their whisky production.
Rather they buy and take used oak casks (casks are not used more than three times).
The casks have been used prior i.e. for the making of Bourbon, Rum, Port or Sherry.
So the total lifespan of a cask can be 2-3 years for the Bourbon whiskey storage
plus three times more from 12 to 20 years and up for Scottish whisky production.
This beautiful photo called "Cold Mountain" was taken by Tim Rogers.
Please click onto the photo to see more of Tim's phantastic pictures!
These used oak casks are available in different sizes and flavor types:
| Name: |
Butt |
Hogshead |
Barrel |
Quarter |
Octavel |
| Contents (liter):
| 500 |
305-250 |
191-173 |
159-127 |
68-45 |
| Cask Used For: |
Color And Flavor Of The Whisky: |
| Sherry |
golden color and light sweet flavor |
| Bourbon |
light, pale color and light vanilla flavor |
| Port / Rhum |
experimental, not used for mass production |
Alcohol Measurement
Vol.% vs. British Proof vs. American Proof
|
Old whiskies coming from Scotland may use as measurement unit for the
content of alcohol the British Sikes Proof (not longer used since
some years). But the British Proof is neither equivalent to the
American Proof nor to the volume % of alcohol (Gay Lussac).
For example:whisky with 40% (vol.) will be 80 Proof (American) but 70 Proof (British).
| Europe: |
%Vol. |
40 |
43 |
46 |
50 |
53 |
57 |
60 |
100 |
Factor is 1.00 |
| U.K.: |
Proof |
70.00 |
75.25 |
80.50 |
87.50 |
92.75 |
99.75 |
105.0 |
175.0 |
Factor is 1.75 |
| USA: |
Proof |
80 |
86 |
92 |
100 |
106 |
114 |
120 |
200 |
Factor is 2.00 |
|
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