Gordon and MacPhail has many years’ experience
in maturing single malt whiskies and we know that the type
of wood used and the length of maturation are one of the many
factors
that distinguish the best single malt whiskies. The interaction
of the wood and the spirit adds contributing flavours to the
final product and this is why we carefully hand select each
of the casks used for maturing Benromach spirit.
Benromach spirit is filled into a variety of casks depending
on the final use of the whisky. For Benromach Traditional,
a careful mixture of first fill bourbon barrels provide a sweet
spicy flavour and first fill sherry butts provide a smooth
richness to the whisky.
New sherry butts and hogsheads, bought and seasoned in Spain,
will be filled with Benromach that will be kept for many years
and bottled as single malts. Bourbon barrels and refill sherry
casks are used when the whisky may be used at a younger age,
perhaps in a G&M blend like Glen Calder.
Once the casks are filled they are transferred to the traditional
dunnage-style warehouses to start maturation. They will be
stowed no more than three casks high on traditional wooden
rails over an earthen floor. The maturation progress of the
casks will be carefully monitored by G&M’s quality
assurance panel over many years until they are deemed ready
for bottling. Only when they say it is ready, do we bottle
the spirit and call it Benromach. |