 In 1800 cask maturation was first introduced. Demand for Highland and island distilled malts in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and England drove the use of casks, which were procured in from wine merchants in England, and thus whisky matured in various types of cask became more popular and well known. The supply of casks to the distilling trade depended on what was available from the wine merchants, and whiskey matured in casks that held Sherry, Port, Madeira, Burgundy, and many other types of wine was produced, and often blended together.
Today, most Scotch is aged in ex-Bourbon casks because they are inexpensive. The spirit is diluted with water to 63.5% ABV and run into cask. 1 – 2% of the spirit is lost to evaporation (the “Angel’s Share) each year. In a blend when there is an age claim, the youngest whisky must be no less than the age claim. After aging, the scotch is cut again to bottling strength, which is usually 40%, 43% or 46% ABV, although there are a number of whiskies (especially “single singles”) that are bottled at cask strength. Normally the whisky is chill-filtered to stabilize it and sometimes coloring is added prior to bottling.
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Wine Regions of the World
