Whisky/Bourbon Ageing
June, 2019 Filed in: Wine making
The Bourbon barrel–aged wines I’ve tried definitely follow a stylistic trend. They tend to be bold, ripe reds at the core, with vanilla, sometimes candied notes. The notes of toast can be intense, heading towards charred or campfire notes.
In the wine business we constantly seeing different trends, some may call them fads emerge over the years. The latest one appears to be ageing wine in whisky or bourbon barrels. Back a few years ago several new commercial winemakers were entering the market and being capital poor could not afford traditional oak barrels for ageing their wine. But they could obtain used whisky or bourbon barrels. So they began to age their wine in thee used liquor barrels and the wine from this process was an immediate commercial success. And then in 2014 some of the big players began to produce wine that was aged in whisky or bourbon barrels. In fact even though their costs were significantly lower because they eliminated purchasing new oak barrels they, being good marketers sold this wine at a $3-4 per bottle premium. Since then these wines have grown in popularity.
Wines ages in whisky or bourbon barrels tend to be bold ripe reds at the core, with hints of vanilla, sometimes described as candied. You may detect some smoky elements in the wine as well.
A few months ago we had the Eclipse Bourbon Barrel wine kit and those that made it continue to rave about the quality of wine and how much they enjoyed it. So this month we have a Selection Limited Whisky Barrel Cab Merlot.
In the wine business we constantly seeing different trends, some may call them fads emerge over the years. The latest one appears to be ageing wine in whisky or bourbon barrels. Back a few years ago several new commercial winemakers were entering the market and being capital poor could not afford traditional oak barrels for ageing their wine. But they could obtain used whisky or bourbon barrels. So they began to age their wine in thee used liquor barrels and the wine from this process was an immediate commercial success. And then in 2014 some of the big players began to produce wine that was aged in whisky or bourbon barrels. In fact even though their costs were significantly lower because they eliminated purchasing new oak barrels they, being good marketers sold this wine at a $3-4 per bottle premium. Since then these wines have grown in popularity.
Wines ages in whisky or bourbon barrels tend to be bold ripe reds at the core, with hints of vanilla, sometimes described as candied. You may detect some smoky elements in the wine as well.
A few months ago we had the Eclipse Bourbon Barrel wine kit and those that made it continue to rave about the quality of wine and how much they enjoyed it. So this month we have a Selection Limited Whisky Barrel Cab Merlot.