A 'Scottish Oak Programme'. Great news. More Scotch Whisky Casks, for the future. As an aside, how many Scotch Whisky Casks, in total, are already resting, in Scotland? What do you reckon? Even the 'Scottish Business Leaders' I ask are always MILES out! The 'official' Scotch Whisky Association figure is 'about 20,000,000'. Twenty Million. I've been told, by very senior Scotch Whisky Figures, who know about this sort of thing, it's 'about 45,000,000'. Others, high up in the 'Whisky Industry' suggest even more than this, 65,000,000. That's Sixty Five Million. Whatever the true amount, the 'American Standard Barrel' makes up the lion's share of this. Each one holds 271-314 bottles (that pesky Angel's Share 'alcohol evaporation' and age causes the alarming discrepancy!). But, if it's a 'Butt', you can expect 670-700 bottles, from just one Cask. A few Distilleries use 'Port Pipes', which are even bigger! Hmm... Port Pipe Scotch Whisky, yum! There's lots of different Casks, Puncheons, Barriques, Quarter Casks, Port Pipes, och, loads. Suffice to say, the average Scot just doesn't have a clue about the true amount. Only one rule, it has to be Oak. Old, new, French, Scottish, American, second/third hand, it doesn't matter. This further complicates things. Convenient, or inconvenient, depends if you're buying, or selling! As they're not told anything NEAR the truth, you can't really blame the average Scot for being totally clueless here! Anyway, who cares? It surely can't be that important? Well, in Scotland, we've 'got form' in undervaluing our natural resources so, now we have one, that's GETTING MORE PLENTIFUL and ISN'T running out, it IS important. Also, as you've probably read, a 25/30/40 year old Cask of Scotch is worth 'rather a lot'. Scotland has quite a few of these. We mentioned that pesky 'Angel's Share' so science tells us, older Casks contain less Scotch Whisky and 'certain Distilleries' can flog them, at an enormous premium. Add this to the algorithm. Soon, a 21st-Century Cask will be 25 years old. Do you know how much a 25 year old bottle of Scotch Whisky is? A bottle of Glenfarclas is about... £200. A bottle of The Macallan is about...£2000! It's complicated but probably explains why a nice Cask of The Macallan is a million quid now and they have the best booze 'Visitor Centre' on the Planet. Anyone good at 'sums'? #ScotchWhiskyTruths
A dram with Gregg Glass The destiny of Whyte & Mackay master whisky maker Gregg Glass seems to have been foretold by a childhood on the Black Isle, across the Cromarty Firth from the company's Dalmore distillery. He talks to Richard Woodard about role models, teamwork and Scottish oak … https://lnkd.in/eEx8hkxs
