Cask Glossary

ABV stands for Alcohol by volume, and is usually measured as a percentage.

Age of Youngest Spirit, otherwise known as the date of distillation.

Every year, a small amount of alcohol evaporates from maturing casks. The resulting airborne alcohol encourages the growth of the ‘Angel’s Share Fungus’, which grows freely on most nearby exterior surfaces.

Previously used in the production of Bourbon, barrels give whisky its signature golden colour and coconut and vanilla flavours. Barrels contain 200 bulk litres, around 120-130 Original Litres of Alcohol (OLA).

Maturing casks are kept in secure bonded warehouses. The traditional ‘dunnage’ warehouses found on site at many distilleries have thick stone walls and earth floors that help to maintain consistent temperatures and humidity.

Oak barrels, or casks, are used for the maturation of whisky from all over the world. The wood softens the spirit, adds colour and flavour and helps to remove impurities.

A secondary maturation in a different cask type. Whiskies are often re-racked into sherry butts or port pipes to impart different character and flavours.

Whisky that is bottled directly from the cask without dilution or any additional water added. It is the purest form of whisky, as it retains the alcohol content at which it was aged in the cask.

Whisky casks are commonly charred on the inside to re-activate the organic enzymes in the oak and impart flavors to the whisky.

Litres of Alcohol. Each cask has a bulk volume of liquid. This is made up of water and alcohol. We measure the volume of whisky within a cask using litres of alcohol.

Original Litres of Alcohol – the original litres of alcohol first put into the cask.

Regauged Litres of Alcohol refer to the remaining litres of alcohol in the cask after re-measuring it at a known date following the initial filling.