As a cask comes to maturity, Finn curates sampling sessions in interesting and relaxing environments, with friends, whisky experts and trusted partners to discover the personality of each cask and gauge the experience each dram evokes.
All the best distillers pride themselves on crafting whisky with a distinctive flavour, which is determined by the water source, grain and barley, the peat and malting, and their distilling processes. High quality original spirit is integral to every cask we bottle.
The cask itself interacts with the whisky over time. The type of wood plays a big role, as do treatments such as the whiskies are aged in a variety of types of casks. The whiskies are aged in former sherry or bourbon casks, augmenting the cask influence. External conditions such as air temperature, pressure and humidity also interact with the cask producing a knock-on effect that makes the spirit inside unique.
Finn uses these factors to balance each FT whisky experience. He may sample a cask and decide to leave it on the rack, allowing age to further develop its personality. He might decide to re-rack a whisky in a new cask to add a finishing touch. Or, he might simply deem it ready. When Finn decides the flavour is perfectly balanced, it’s time to bottle the whisky.
Sitting in a wine bar in Milan in November ahead of Milan Whisky Festival I found myself reaching to my bag to test one of my latest innovative cask samples. This was a single cask of Benrinnes that had spent 8 months lying in a Passito di Caluso wine cask. As I sipped the new sample I compared it to the wine itself, trying to fully understand how the intensely sweet and fruity wine has integrated with the meaty and nutty style of this Benrinnes single cask.
Benrinnes is the perfect candidate for a cask like this. Not easily overwhelmed by active casks, we get a rich combination of the raisin and date flavours of the wine alongside the savoury notes from the whisky.
Passito di Caluso is a Sweet Italian dessert wine from the Piedmont region. It has a production process that goes all the back to 500 BCE when the Ancient Greeks would pick the grapes from their September harvest and increase their sweetness by sun-drying them before fermentation. Nowadays it is a much more uncommon method but the ‘Passito’ style of wine is a hidden jewel amongst the world’s sweet wines.
The sophistication and elegance of Italy meets the ruggedness of Scotland in an intense burst of flavour, each sip a celebration of this collaboration between Italy and Scotland.
Sitting in a wine bar in Milan in November ahead of Milan Whisky Festival I found myself reaching to my bag to test one of my latest innovative cask samples. This was a single cask of Benrinnes that had spent 8 months lying in a Passito di Caluso wine cask. As I sipped the new sample I compared it to the wine itself, trying to fully understand how the intensely sweet and fruity wine has integrated with the meaty and nutty style of this Benrinnes single cask.
Benrinnes is the perfect candidate for a cask like this. Not easily overwhelmed by active casks, we get a rich combination of the raisin and date flavours of the wine alongside the savoury notes from the whisky.
Passito di Caluso is a Sweet Italian dessert wine from the Piedmont region. It has a production process that goes all the back to 500 BCE when the Ancient Greeks would pick the grapes from their September harvest and increase their sweetness by sun-drying them before fermentation. Nowadays it is a much more uncommon method but the ‘Passito’ style of wine is a hidden jewel amongst the world’s sweet wines.
The sophistication and elegance of Italy meets the ruggedness of Scotland in an intense burst of flavour, each sip a celebration of this collaboration between Italy and Scotland.