Beverage Dynamics

Beverage Dynamics July-August 2016

Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.

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Today, a greater scrutiny of barrels through arrange- ments made in advance with suppliers is the norm. And the choices are many, although in terms of expense, used whiskey barrels supplied by the largest U.S. pro- ducers (Jack Daniel's and Jim Beam, for example) are most commonly in use. But some tequila pro- ducers opt for new oak barrels, whether American, French or even Hungarian in origin. Many deter- mine the toast and char level of these customized oak barrels as well. Finally, in this case, size really matters - at least one tequila producer employs three different capacity barrels to age its tequilas. For a brand such as Casamigos, it's not the or- igin of the barrels that is important but the quality of each one, especially as the brand launched with a reposado fi rst. Says Olivier Begat, VP of manu- facturing and production at Casamigos, "Sourcing the once-used American whiskey barrels is all about choosing the right age of barrells, and maintaining a constant supply." For their fairly new brand, Casamigos reps prefer making deals directly with suppliers rather than through brokers, in order to maintain a level of quality. In addition, they tend not to reuse their 200- liter barrels. For other producers, how the barrels are prepared matters. For example, Espolon uses new American oak barrels with char level 2. Standard barrel char ranges from light to dark, one through four. Lighter char levels are said to impart more fruit and spice notes, while darker chars will provide more color and vanilla fl avor. "When our master distiller was creating Espolon, it was his desire that he always retain the purity of the agave, so he decided to use only new barrels for our aged variants," says Christine Moll, marketing director for Gruppo Campari. "It's a very im- portant decision because it allows the agave fl avor to be as pure as possible without the infl uence of other spirits." While opinions differ about how much impact previ- ous usage imparts, master distiller Cirilo Oropeza's main point was to limit infl uence to new American oak only, charred to his specifi cations. Espolon reuses the bar- rels, and throws in a little twist when it comes to its añejo expression; here, the tequila is aged for ten months in the standard barrels but fi nished for two to three months in ex-Wild Turkey casks made with a higher char (number four). Oropeza has said other types of barrels, like sherry, intrigue him. "I love discussing barrels," says Casa Noble founder and maestro tequilero, Pepe Hermosillo. For him, when planning the house's aged expressions, he believed the industry standard high-char, used-Bour- bon barrels wouldn't fi t his vision. "Tequila already has a lot of character. We wondered what we could use that was better - in our case, we picked new French oak, which plays well with spices herbs and earthiness of our tequila by adding vanilla, nuts and fruits through the aging process," he adds. Patrón's Antonio Rodriguez helps oversee quality control as production manager at Tequila Patrón, which employs a variety of barrels. "Many brands use only once-used American whiskey barrels, and that's the most common method," he says. "We use new bar- rels made from French and Hungarian oak, as well as some very specifi c used barrels. The more types of wood and ages used, the more complexity in the fi nal result." Rodriguez points out that not all reposados are necessarily aged in barrels, with some instead resting in large oaken tanks. As regulations allow for the addition of up to two percent of cer- tain additives, some producers adjust the color of the fi nal spirit to appeal to those who associate darker hues with age or quality. www.beveragedynamics.com July/August 2016• Beverage Dynamics 29 Today, a greater scrutiny of barrels through arrange- ments made in advance with suppliers is the norm. And the choices are many, although in terms of expense, used whiskey barrels supplied by the largest U.S. pro- as possible without the infl uence of other spirits." While opinions differ about how much impact previ- ous usage imparts, master distiller Cirilo Oropeza's main point was to limit infl uence to new American oak only, charred to his specifi cations. Espolon reuses the bar- bon barrels wouldn't fi t his vision. AGED TEQUILA

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