Be sure to also check out the very cool picture of:
Oak barrels being toasted. Cask- or barrel-strength whiskies, which are growing in popularity, can either come from a single barrel or blends of several specifically chosen ones (Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images).
As the demand for high-end brown spirits continues to grow, it is perhaps inevitable that cask- or barrel-strength whiskies have gained traction in the market. It’s also likely that their increasing popularity is tied to the attention that consumers are paying to unadulterated, less-processed food and drink products in general. And while whiskies cut with water to a more standard 80 proof are far from “processed,” there is an added sense of authenticity to bottlings that are perceived to taste exactly as they would if you could siphon the liquid directly from the barrel in which the spirit has aged for all those years of its development.
Brent Elliott, Master Distiller at Four Roses, has seen interest in these whiskies increase. [Note: I attended a press trip to Four Roses this past October.] “It started with the demand from our bourbon consumers who wanted to enjoy bourbon in its most natural form,” he explained in an email. “With Barrel Strength, there is no water dilution or chill filtration, so it is like sampling the bourbon straight from the barrel. With the explosion in the popularity of bourbon, there has been an increase not only among bourbon loyalists but consumers who are looking for an elevated experience.”
Interestingly, cask- or barrel-strength whiskies can come from either a single barrel or a blend of multiple barrels. The Four Roses 2016 Limited Edition Small Batch, for example, is crafted from a combination of three of the distillery’s unique recipes (they are widely known to work with multiple mash bills and specific yeast strains, the combinations of which result in a myriad of flavor and aroma profiles). Among them, there is a 16-year-old batch and two different 12-year-old ones, and the result, bottled at 111.2 proof, or 55.6% alcohol, is delicious: Lemon and orange marmalade, mint, and chocolate mingle with spice and apples in a bourbon that, for all its power and richness, never comes off as overly alcoholic.
That’s not always the case, of course, with full-proof whiskies. Indeed, the high-alcohol punch can occasionally overwhelm more subtle nuances. Which is why diluting them in the glass is often a good idea. In Scotland, for example, I have never been served a dram of whisky—even non-cask-strength ones—without being offered a side of water to add to it. Even the addition of a drop or two has the potential to open up the aromatics of the glass, allowing it to flower in a way that it never quite seems to without it.
Elliott, at Four Roses, sees this as a benefit. “A barrel strength whiskey, to me, has a more intense aroma with more of the aromas ‘compressed,’” he explained. “With dilution to lower proof, many of the flavors open up and reveal layers of complexity. The flavors of a barrel strength are very similar to the aromas in that regard, but you also have to contend with a little more alcohol ‘heat’ at barrel strength. The beauty of barrel strength is the versatility it gives the consumer. You can add water yourself if you’d like…or enjoy it as it was in the barrel.”
Even the water that consumers use to dilute their whiskies come in bespoke options. For purists, Uisge Source, in Scotland, is bottling water from the same sources that several individual distilleries use in the production of their whisky. So, for instance, you can add a few drops of water from the Ardilistry Spring to a dram of Laphroaig, both of which are from Islay. I experienced this for the first time this past spring in Edinburgh at the Balmoral Hotel’s Scotch Bar, and whether or not it made an impact, it was a lot of fun. (Although I’d like to believe that it did positively affect each subsequent sip.)
Excellent barrel-strength whiskies abound right now, with examples from Maker’s Mark, Wild Turkey, Angels Envy, Jack Daniel’s, and countless more from around the world.
As they continue to grow in popularity, these high-proof whiskies are also finding their way to the table. Indeed, for all their strength when sipped on their own, they can play a perfect foil for heartier foods, slicing through all of the richness and allowing the flavors of both the food and the whiskey to shine. Chef Waldemar Stryjewski, for example, of Philadelphia’s phenomenal Prohibition Taproom—his cooking reveals the levels of complexity that the great American comfort-food tradition can achieve when given a chef-driven kick—is a devoted whiskey fan, which works out well since the food he conceives of and prepares seems custom-fit for enjoying alongside a powerful whiskey or three.
His burgundy-soaked short rib cheese steak with pickled jalapeño and aged cheddar, he explained, works brilliantly alongside a glass of 112-proof Jefferson’s Ocean Cask Strength Bourbon. He also pointed out that, though the restaurant doesn’t serve it this way, that pairing would be even more decadent with the addition of foie gras to the cheese steak.
These whiskies are, no matter how you enjoy them, a growing segment of the market, and a delicious and versatile one at that.
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