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I/ Previous Occupant: Bourbon
Who would’ve thought that froma brash, confident US of A could come smooth wonderful subtlety? Well ya’ll be surprised to learn that’s what you can expect from casks that have previously borne bourbon.
• Made from American oak (Quercus alba)
• Charred inside for 30 seconds – 4 minutes
• Removes any nasty bits from the spirit
• Reduced nose-curling sulfurous tones
• Bourbon seasoning reduces the bitter tannins
1/ Cask Type: First fill barrel
Usually the smallest cask used for whisky (200 litres) the barrel’s capacity means that the wood surface deals with a lesser quantity
of spirit, which can make maturation faster. This is a first fill cask, so previously untouched by whisky, just ‘seasoned’ by the bourbon.
Flavour
First fill casks usually make for richer flavours. This bourbon cask is characterised by vanilla, toffee, caramel and crème brûlée notes,
and is one of the smoothest whiskies as the charring helps remove harsh tannins.
2/ Cask Type: First fill hogshead
A hogshead is made adding staves to a barrel for a volume of 250 litres. This was industry practise since bourbon casks began to be used, but the industry has since changed to first fill barrels shipped direct and filled, so first fill hogsheads are becoming more rare.
Flavour
A first fill hogshead generally encourages more oxidation than a barrel, with more fresh and minty notes in addition to the sweet first fill
flavours of vanilla, toffee and caramel.
3/ Cask Type: Second fill barrel
Identical to a first fill barrel, but has previously been used to mature whisky so passes subtler tones onto the second fill. Important in the
vatting process for single malts (not single cask, single malt obviously) to combine with richer first fill casks. Something as a member you need not concern yourself with!
Flavour
These whiskies have lighter more floral and citrusy notes, with hints of creamy vanilla. On the whole these second fills give a more balanced range of flavours and any fruity mouth-watering distillery tastes are preserved.
4/ Cask Type: Refill hogshead/barrel
The refill barrel and hogshead give the lightest character of any other type to a maturing whisky. This is due to the minimum of two previous whiskies that have drawn the flavours from the cask. They may not be as richly flavoured, but remember that each and every Society bottling has passed the stringent scrutiny of The Tasting Panel.
Flavour
Though they pass little of their own traits to a maturing whisky, this allows the distillery character to shine. Expect a flurry of citrus, barley and salty notes, with earthiness allowed to dominate from the peatier single malts.
II/ Previous Occupant: Sherry
Feisty, full-bodied Spanish casks, sherried whiskies are richer and darker in colour (maybe it’s the weather) with bold aromatic flavours.
• Stronger characteristics from European oak (Quercus robur)
• Toasted prior to filling with sherry
• The wood is lightly caramelised
• Have usually matured Oloroso, though Fino, Manzanilla,
Amontillado and Pedro Ximenez casks can appear.
1/ Cask Type: First fill sherry butt
The most common of sherry casks, the butt holds around 500 litres of spirit. A 1st fill sherry butt will produce the darkest colours of
whisky, and create some of the strongest flavour characteristics.
Flavours
The toasting process of first fill sherry butts generally produce richer, dark fruit flavours in the whisky such as raisins, prunes &
currants, along with stronger woody, oily and (surprise, surprise) sherry notes.
2/ Cask Type: First fill sherry hogshead
Made of American oak, sherry hogsheads are very rare breed indeed, though the differences in flavour are not as dramatic as you
might think.
Flavour
As with a sherry butt, flavours are lead by rich, dark fruits, but the difference in wood means that a whisky from a sherried hogshead is
often sweeter but with less oily notes.
3/ Cask Type: Refill butt
Probably the most variable quality of all cask types, like their bourbon refill cousins, a refill butt has previously borne two or more
whiskies. On occasion, refill butts can almost be as rich as first fill sherry butts.
Flavour
The influence of the oak and sherry can vary significantly. This variability translates to a diverse range of flavours in a refill butt whisky.
From dried fruit and marzipan to the leathery and oily through to savoury and charcouterie meats, they always surprise.
III/ No Previous Occupant
1/ New Charred Oak
The rarest of them all is new oak, a recent development in maturation first used in 1991. Created specifically
for whisky, it has had no previous tenants. Expect sweetness and extraordinary levels of wonderful spice.
Flavour
New charred oak can be tailored to provide certain flavours, but on the whole you’ll find amazing sweetness, including toffee, chocolate, vanilla and oaky or spiced notes. Often gives the impression of an exotic spice market.
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1/ Theo cháu biết, sau khi tạo dáng thùng (barrel), để tạo hương vị của thùng, nhà chưng cất phải đốt : charring (thùng ủ bourbon) & toast (thùng ủ ex-sherry)
2/ Trước đó, các thanh gỗ sồi (barrel staves), cần phải làm khô để dễ uống cong, tạo dáng thùng. Có 1 số khác biệt về việc làm khô này
+ Vang (wine), thường để khô tự nhiên (air seasoning), sẽ mang lại hiệu quả hơn với đốt (qua lửa, kiln drying)
Air seasoning, sẽ giảm chất hàm lượng tannin chát xít (tannic astringency) và tạo nhiều hương vị vanillin. Do vậy thùng ủ rượu vang (đặc trưng là Pháp) luôn được làm khô tự nhiên (thời gian có thể lên tới 24 tháng) trong khi đó phần lớn thùng ủ rượu bourbon (Mỹ) được đốt qua lửa (thời gian 1 - 3 tuần)
Tại sao lại vậy ? 1 số nhà chưng cất cho rằng quá trình làm khô thanh gỗ sồi chỉ quan trọng/ có tác dụng với first –fill hay spirit chưng cất trong thùng mới (như vang & bourbon whiskey) ; ngược lại không /ít có ảnh hưởng đến việc sinh trưởng cốt rượu khi ủ trong thùng second –fill.
Hơn nữa, Scotch whisky lại ưa thích việc ủ trong thùng re –fill,…(thùng đã qua sử dụng)
Theo thống kê, hầu hết thùng whisky, nguồn gốc đều xuất phát từ USA, nơi mà hàng triệu thùng bourbon được sản xuất hàng năm, so với khoảng 500.000 thùng (hầu hất sử dụng cho vang) từ Pháp. Ước tính 800.000 thùng American bourbon được bán cho ngành công nghiệp Scotch whisky hàng năm
Sau khi hoàn thành thùng (barrel) để tạo flavor cho thùng, sẽ phải đốt qua lửa.
+ Với thùng ủ bourbon : sẽ được đốt bên trong thùng, gọi là charred
Charring, diễn ra trong thời gian rất nhanh. Lại chia 1 số loại char khác nhau, mục đích tạo hương vị cho thùng khác nhau : light char (15s, giây), medium char (30s), heavy char (45s). Với thời gian lâu hơn 45s, hiện tượng phồng rộp gỗ sẽ xảy ra.
+ Với thùng ủ ex- sherry : thùng sẽ được nướng toàn bộ thùng (k chỉ bên trong), goị là toast.
Toasting diễn ra chậm hơn charring, thường mất 15’ (phút) cho light toast, 30’ cho medium & 45’ cho heavy toasting. Nhưng thời gian này không là fix (cố định) mà còn tuỳ theo các nhà cooperages khác nhau (cơ sở chế biến barrel/cask)
Để hiểu rõ hơn, tại sao lại chia ra : light, medium & heavy…, các cụ xem ở dưới
House toasts for all our barrels are classified as:
Light : less aromatics, increased tannins
hebergement image
Medium : vanillins, caramel, spice, butterscotch
hebergeur d images
Medium Plus : oak lactones, integrated tannins, coffee, spice
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Medium Plus Extra : smoother tannins, oaky, slow release, longer ageing
hébergement gratuit d'images
Heavy : smoky, coffee, pepper, full impact
téléchargement de photos
Xin lưu ý 1 chút, mỗi cooperage, lại có riêng 1 “house toast” riêng, cũng như cách toast/charring riêng. Việc này tạo ra hương vị (flavor) riêng cho các nhà chưng cất.
Dưới đây là mẫu Medium toast của 7 nhà cooperage khác nhau
image gratuite à télécharger
Mong các cụ vào chém.