Scotch & Sherry
A Flavour Odyssey is a new documentary from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society about the relationship between Scotch and sherry. We travel from our headquarters in Leith to the oak forests of Galicia and onto the Sherry Triangle in Andalucia to explore how the Society’s sherry cask-matured whisky gets its flavour, and meet the people who create both the casks and the sherry that goes into them.
sherry cask-matured whisky
2024 is going to be a year of celebrating the Society’s approach to sherry-cask maturation. If you’ve been exploring the world of whisky for a while now, you’ll be aware that the huge variety of styles, sometimes with completely different characteristics, can make the generic term ‘whisky’ feel a little inadequate. Now prepare to have your mind blown by a dive into the world of sherry.
Sherry casks are prized for the spicy, nutty and rich dried fruits notes that they can contribute to whisky, as well as a deep mahogany colour. There are notable variations depending on the type of sherry that was previously in the cask, from a dry oloroso to sweet Pedro Ximenez and beyond.
Fermentation times & sherry maturation
Calum and Richard talk all things sherry, preconceptions around serry-seasoned casks, and the impact of fermentation times on a whisky’s character.
The SMWS and sherry-matured whisky
Check out our Q&A with Euan Campbell in a Jerez bodega when we were out on a visit to the Sherry Triangle.
How Is Scotch WHISKY AGED? (Guide To Bourbon & Sherry Maturation)
How can Scotch whisky offer such an immense variety of flavours with just three ingredients? The majority of whisky's flavour comes during its maturation in oak wood, but there's so much more to it than that.
From specially commissioned seasoned hogsheads to ex-bodega butts, the world of sherry casks can be as confusing to get your head around as the varieties of sherry wine that might have filled them. In our continuing focus on sherry cask-matured whisky, Richard Goslan explores the wonderful world of sherry wood.
May saw the launch of the Society’s first-ever documentary, telling the story of sherry casks from the forests of Galicia to the cooperages and bodegas of the ‘sherry triangle’ in Andalucía. Unfiltered editor Richard Goslan produced Scotch & Sherry: A Flavour Odyssey and explains here what to expect, and how it all came together.
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society goes to great lengths to ensure that we can trace the provenance and guarantee the quality of the casks we use for sherry maturation – and that includes being able to see exactly where the wood comes from, as well as how the casks are coopered.
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s first ever bottling in 1983 was a sherry-matured whisky from Distillery #1. Since then, we have bottled casks in their thousands, but as our dedicated programme to increase the volume and variety of sherry-matured whisky comes of age, 2024 is promising to be a celebration of sherry casks at the Society, with 12 months of flavourful whisky discoveries ahead of us.
There’s a lot to learn when you start your whisky journey. But sometimes you have to broaden your horizons and dive into a whole new world to understand a little more about what’s going on in your dram. If you enjoy a sherry cask-matured whisky, here’s what you need to know about the Spanish wine and how it’s much more than a sweet, creamy drink beloved by elderly relatives at Christmas time.
Learn more about the huge role that the Spanish wine has played in the whisky world. Gavin D Smith digs into Leith’s history with wine in general, and sherry in particular.
It’s 40 years since The Scotch Malt Whisky Society launched its first bottling list, with an 8-year-old Glenfarclas ‘matured in sherry casks – hence its rich depth of colour’, according to our inaugural offering (£13.45 at the time). Cask No. 1.1 is one in a long line of highly prized sherry-matured whiskies. But how did sherry, of all wines, become so closely associated with the finest Scotch?
