Does Whisky taste as good as it used to?

I recently got a hold of a 2006 book by Charles Maclean, prolific whisky writer and whisky historian. Whisky Tales is a collection of essays on various subjects relating to Single Malt Scotch. Maclean has been writing about whisky for about 30 years and focuses on the historical aspects of what makes whisky whisky and how it has become what we drink today, through the ages.

Depending on where you are in your journey of discovery into the world of whisky, you may not realize its harsh beginning as you taste some of the refined examples of what we have on our whisky shelves today. Before there were any licensed distilleries, in the 1500’s  or earlier, barley was being made into whisky or Uisquebaugh for multiple reasons.  One, as a way to use excess grain after harvests that otherwise would spoil, two, because

the result was thought to be a health tonic, and three, oh by the way, you could get pleasantly intoxicated by imbibing it.

But what they were drinking then was un-aged and harsh.  So much so that herbs and honey and other ingredients were added to it to make it drinkable.  The only reason it ever saw any wood influence, which we now know creates a major part of Whisky’s flavor, was to transport it from here to there. The only aging that ever happened was by the accident of a cask or two being mislaid. And if the cask in which it was stored and transported used to house herring, so much the better since it was cheaper than a cask that once held port or sherry. Herring finished whisky, anyone?

Skip ahead a few hundred years and we have our modern systems of distilling, aging and finishing our finest whiskies. Nowadays even though many distilleries are owned by huge spirits conglomerates, the main emphasis, perhaps below cost cutting, is the consistency and purity of the product.

Here are a few tidbits from the Maclean book that I did not know had such a profound affect on the flavor of each dram of single malt Scotch.

How the Stills are fired: Direct or Indirect

How the Spirit is Condensed: Worm Tubs or other devices

How the Wood Adds, Subtracts or Interacts with the Whisky

Distilleries with direct-fired stills in use today: Glenfarclas, Glenfiddich, GlenDronach (converted to steam in 2005), Macallan and Springbank.

As the distillate comes off the still, in a vapor, it must be condensed back into liquid to form the spirit which is then filled into casks for aging. Here again, how that happens affects the flavor of the whisky. Maclean says it was only in the mid-1500’s that distillers began to use a pipe submerged in cool water to achieve this goal. The tube used was called the worm, and when it began to be coiled and submerged in a tub, the whole apparatus was called a worm-tub. This tube or worm is made out of copper. Copper is both malleable and as in the still itself, it purifies the spirit, helping remove sulphury compounds which would give an “off” aroma and flavor. Shell-and-tube condensers were later to supplant the use of worm-tubs. These devices were built more like a radiator on a car with many tubes, closely packed, in a shell through which cool water runs. These were easier to maintain but seemed to make a lighter spirit. By the late 70’s only a few distilleries still used worm tubs. Distilleries with worm tubs are, “likely to be heavier in texture, and some would say, more characterful,” says Maclean.

Certainly when I think of Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Mortlach, Springbank and Talisker I think of an oilier, more viscous spirit than most, and quite tasty.

Nowadays, by law, Scotch must be aged in oak for a minimum of three years, but this was not always the case.

Before that law was in effect, as mentioned above, what had previously been in the cask, such as herring or lamp oil or whatever was up to the purchaser of the barrel and furthermore it could be of chestnut or other woods too.

By the time the law requiring oak came into effect in 1988, the industry had been using only that wood for many years, at first from European Oak made into sherry and port casks, and later, primarily bourbon barrels from the US which now make up about 95% of those in use, made from American White Oak.  Here in Missouri, some of the best wood for coopering comes from the forests of the Ozarks, some stands of which are owned by Glenmorangie.

Certain flavors one associates with whisky are produced in an additive process also initiated by the heat on the wood surface.  Hemicellulose in the oak adds sweetness and color, lignin in the wood when heated creates vanilla and coconut flavors and, tannins, undesirable if over-present, in small quantities, add fragrance, delicacy and color. Another aspect of the additive process is the spiciness that French oak lends to whisky, a characteristic that John Glaser, founder of Compass Box Whisky is especially fond of.

You’ve probably heard of the Angel’s Share, which is a term describing the evaporation that takes place as whisky ages in barrels. Well this is part of an interactive mechanism that occurs as the spirit matures. Because oak is semiporous, it breathes and interacts with the local climate, exhaling spirit and inhaling air. This process of oxidation “removes harshness, increases fruitiness and enhances complexity.” Warmer climates and smaller casks accentuate this process and cooler climates and larger casks slow this process. That is one reason that Bourbon ages so much faster than Scotch, the other reason being that the virgin cask is more active than a used cask. This is also why some whisky experts think it is so important where a barrel matures, whether in a city center wharehouse in Glasgow or in a building sitting just feet from the ocean. Does it take on the salty, seaweedy air when matured by the seashore?  Some say yes some say no.

Further influence of wood on the whisky can be seen, smelled and tasted in the current trend of using wood “finishing.” There are many examples that are done well like Glenmorangie Nectar D’ Or. There are also some awful attempts to “finish” a poor whisky in an active sherry or other cask.  You can’t fix bad whisky with a good finish. One example of a poor use of a finish was a Benriach bottling of 1991, bottled in 2005 with a Sauterne finish. The finish totally overpowered the whisky.

What can you take away from all these tidbits of how producing and aging whisky have changed over the years?

Well for me, its a lesson to look for some of the whiskies that are still produced with some of the old-fashioned methods to see if they really do taste better than those drams being produced in more modern, cost effective or easier methods. Are the old ways the best? Judge for yourself, dram by dram. Slainte!