Due to their distinctive and aromatic flavor profile, used bourbon barrels are often employed in the process of aging other alcoholic beverages. Curious to know which ones? Here are just a few. You may be surprised!
1. Scotch: Perhaps the most commonly known spirit to spend time in a bourbon barrel, scotch wouldn’t really be scotch without bourbon. In fact, these days, 9 out of 10 Scottish whiskey casks originate in the United States as bourbon barrels. There is surely some sort of magic in the muted oak flavor that these barrels impart to the aging liquor, indicated perhaps most clearly by the many connoisseurs who exclusively hunt for bourbon cask scotch. Take, for example, Auchentoshan American Oak, a single malt scotch that is widely available, affordable, and extremely popular.
2. Rum: Traditionally thought to be a sweet liquor, rum sometimes garners a bit of an oaky bite from spending time in bourbon barrels. For sale at many a local spirit shop, bottles like Mount Gay Limited Edition XO Cask Strength Rum pack quite a punch to the flavor palate and leave drinkers wondering how rum could be elevated to such amazing heights (you now know the secret: bourbon barrels!).
3. Vodka: Normally a clear and potent spirit, vodka gets a different reputation when it spends time in used bourbon barrels. OYO, for example, crafted a stunning amber bottle of Barrel-Finished Honey Bean Vanilla Vodka that picked up just the right amount of oaky goodness from the vessels it was finished in. Other distilleries have jumped on the same train and discovered that barrel aging can give even vodka a more distinguished and mellow flavor.
4. Beer: While beer has not historically been aged in bourbon barrels, some clever breweries now understand that there are benefits to breaking the mold. Greg Hall may have started the trend in 1992 when he produced a Goose Island Beer that spent time in oak barrels previously holding Jim Beam. Other craft breweries quickly caught on to the trend. Patrick Rue, founder and CEO of the Bruery pointed out that “since bourbon barrels by law need to be 100 percent new American oak, and heavily charred, there is an amazing amount of flavor remaining in the wood.” The Bruery is known for its White Chocolate and 8 Maids-a-Milking offerings of bourbon barrel aged beer.
5. Wine: Believe it or not, even wine is now getting its turn in the bourbon barrel! Introduced in 2014 by Fetzer Vineyards, 1000 Stories was the first modern wine to try it. Creating quite the buzz, the aromatic zinfandel quickly led to the employment of used bourbon barrels at a variety of other popular wineries, especially in California. Robert Mondavi and Apothic now have their own offerings, as well as Stave and Steel’s rustic, barrel-aged cabernet sauvignon.
Want to push the envelope with your own unique brews or blends? At Rocky Mountain Barrel Company you can always find a wide variety of bourbon barrels for sale.
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