why oak? WRITTEN BY CHAD CHRIESTENSON
i
t almost goes without saying that barrel aging is an important Northeast, it was rum coming from the Caribbean whose quality part of the spirit making process. In fact, it is often necessary, increased on the boat ride north. In Louisiana, it was whiskey
and sometimes required by law, to barrel age in order to achieve coming down from Bourbon County, Kentucky that gained the flavors and aromas we’ve come to associate with many notoriety. Due to the prevalence of oak in the US, especially in popular spirits. But why do we always choose oak?
the interior east, most of these barrels were made of new oak,
In order to answer this, we have to start by focusing on a unlike their European counterparts which tended to be used. different question: Why barrels? It turns out the idea, if not barrels
“The bottom line is it just tastes better,” Steve Mayes, owner
themselves, dates all the way back to the ancient Egyptians, the of Redhead Barrels in Dallas, Texas told me. “You’ll get some same civilization, coincidentally, that first distilled spirits. The flavor profile variation amongst varieties of oak,” he continued barrel turned out to be an impressive technological advance. In in his slow, deliberate Texas drawl, “but they’re all going to be fact, its design superiority is evidenced by the fact that it has good. Whereas, you’re not going to get something comparable undergone very few improvements in thousands of years. A single worker can easily rock a barrel of considerable weight
from pine, for instance.” Taste isn’t the only reason. I contacted Independent Stave
onto its side and roll it almost anywhere without additional help. Company’s David Llodra in Napa Valley and he cited four primary The barrel is also designed such that if dropped the impact reasons for choosing oak: strength, durability, purity and flavor. is absorbed through all the staves, making it a much better Let’s take a closer look at each of these. alternative to crates whose corners and sides easily give. For everything from salt to nails to fish to tar. It was only a matter of
strength
time before spirits ended up in them, as well.
of the tree, running from the heartwood out to the bark. These
these reasons, barrels have been used for millennia to transport
Medullary
rays
are
flat
cell
structures that lie along the radius
In the United States, consumers began noting the changes in rays are typically much harder than the rest of the tree and play product quality coming out of barrels in the late 18th and early an important role in both strength and flexibility. In most trees 19th centuries, both in New Orleans and in New England. In the they are only one cell wide. However, in oak they can be several
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