Barrels, Hogsheads, Pipes & Butts –Their Differences, Influences & History
by Gary Quinn
Whiskey is matured and finished in a confusing and ever-changing range of barrel types. Some of them are chosen for their convenience or cost while others are chosen to bring a specific flavour profile to a whiskey. The size of the cask, the wood it’s made of and the drink it matured before it was used for whiskey, all contribute massively to the final flavour, colour, texture and personality of the whiskey.
Cask or Barrel?
The terms cask and barrel are often (though incorrectly) used interchangeably with “cask” being the umbrella term for wooden vessels of all sizes and “barrel”, amongst others we’ll discuss, being a specific size and type of cask. A simple glossary of common cask types will help us set the stage:
American standard Barrel: This is the standard barrel size used in bourbon. It’s initially virgin American oak and by the time it arrives in Europe it comes with the bourbon it matured, soaked into its staves to add this magic array of flavours to Irish whiskey. Usually around 200 litres (53 gallons).
Hogshead: hogsheads are made by taking the staves of a barrel and adding fresh oak, either as additional staves or as new tops and bottoms to the barrel. They are sometimes known as sherry hogsheads but built the same way. Usually around 250 litres (66 gallons).
Port pipes: these are the barrel types used to mature ports and are made from oak. They are sometimes also called butts. From around 350 to 650 litres.(92 to 172 gallons).
Wine casks: wine is matured in oak and the wood of the barrel absorbs lots of the flavours and chemistry of the wood, transferring these flavours to whiskey. Usually around 250 litres (66 gallons).
Butts: Another common sherry barrel is the sherry butt which is much larger and sometimes referred to as pipes. Around 350 to 650 litres, though most commonly 500 litres. (92 to 172 gallons).
Quarter casks: these are smaller cask types and can either be a quarter the size of an ex-bourbon barrel at around 50 litres or quarter a sherry butt.
To help you start to differentiate between cask or barrel types, here are five well-known Irish whiskeys, each of which uses a different cask type combination.
Five Whiskeys And Their Cask Types
REDBREAST 12 – Oloroso sherry and bourbon casks
Redbreast 12 is probably the most famous and awarded single pot still whiskey on the planet. Its 12 years in wood conjured a remarkably robust and flavourful whiskey that has grown into an incredible family of whiskeys that includes a 15- and a 21-year-old. It’s matured in two cask types: ex-oloroso sherry and ex-bourbon. Both of these are very commonly used in Irish whiskey.
Oloroso sherry butts have previously been used to produce the fortified wine known as oloroso sherry before being used to age whiskey. This sherry type is produced specifically in the Jerez de la Frontera region of Spain and the casks are generally 500 litres (132 gallons) in size. They are usually European oak but not always and a range of oak types can be used to manufacture them.
Ex-Bourbon casks are American oak barrels that had previously contained Bourbon for at least two years, if not longer. Since Bourbon must be made in virgin oak there is a healthy trade in bourbon barrels between the US and Europe. They are also known as American Standard Barrels and usually hold around 200 litres (53 gallons).
DINGLE SINGLE MALT CORE RELEASE – Pedro Ximenez and Bourbon barrels
This release from the Dingle Distillery is the first core release in the Dingle range. A single malt, it’s a non-age statement whiskey matured in Pedro Ximenez and Ex-Bourbon.
Pedro Ximenez or PX Casks are a very common cask type and impart huge flavour in the whiskey they mature. They are produced in Spain to make the famously smooth sherry from the 180-year-old Gonzalez Byass family. Many whiskeys will simply state “sherry cask” on their label to refer to the fact that the whiskey has a sherry influence, the Pedro Ximenez moniker gets special mention due to the rich and deliciously warming personality this sherry in particular brings to whiskey. Like other sherry casks it is usually 500 litres (132 gallons) and made from oak.
METHOD AND MADNESS 28-YEAR-OLD PORT PIPE – Port Pipe and ex-bourbon
This wonderfully rich whiskey comes from the micro-distillery at Midleton and is the result of an extra-long maturation period that begins with six years in an ex-bourbon barrel and ends after 22 years in a port pipe.
Port pipes generally come from Portugal but also Spain and the name pipe is taken from the Portuguese name for barrel or cask – pipa. They are one of the bigger cask sizes and can range in size from 350 to 650 litres (92 to 172 gallons). They are made of oak, usually European, but this isn’t mandatory.
TEELING SINGLE POT STILL – American Virgin Oak, Bourbon and Sherry Casks
This triple-cask whiskey is the core Single Pot Still release from the Teeling distillery. Maturing in three cask types: American virgin oak, ex-bourbon and ex-sherry, the use of virgin oak is an outlier in Irish whiskey. Usually, distillers use ex-bourbon barrels alone, but in this case Teeling introduced a virgin American oak cask into the mix to bring an extra layer of wood and spiced oak to the pot still.
American virgin oak is what bourbon producers utilize every day as, under US legislation to protect bourbon, they are obliged by law to use virgin oak. One of the benefits of virgin oak is that when it is charred it can impart flavours that appear to be much older and richer than they are in a shorter maturation period. A bourbon cask is American Standard Barrel size at 200 litres (53 gallons).
BUSHMILLS CAUSEWAY COLLECTION 2008 MUSCATEL – Muscatel wine cask
The Bushmills Causeway collection is a wonderfully diverse range of whiskeys matured in different finishes and barrel types. The series is designed to show how consistent and robust the Bushmills whiskey profile is and how it can take on flavours from many different barrel types. Each of the barrel types used brings a new edge to the whiskey produced at what is the world’s oldest licenced distillery.
A Muscatel wine cask was used in this bottling. Muscatel doesn’t have a specific geographical region. It’s a fortified wine that’s known as Vin Doux Naturel in France; Liquer Muscat in Australia and Moscatel in Portugal. Each of these, though, use the same 225-litre (60 gallons) oak barrel to produce it.