18 year old single malt .

[skc101fc]

That is one time that taking your work home with you would be a good thing.
 
Have a word.
 
You’ll be Employee of the Month in no time.

Of course some comes home. There's often 1/2 a litre or so left in the bottom that the pumps can't get out. Be a shame to waste it. [emoji6]

[Mark Bolam]

👍

[eggsarascal]

6 minutes ago, skc101fc said:

Of course some comes home. There's often 1/2 a litre or so left in the bottom that the pumps can't get out. Be a shame to waste it.

Shit job but someone's got to do it...

[daveatdave]

skc101fc over the years i have visited a few distillery's when you go round there warehouse they always point out the barrel that's 100 years old  (the angels share) the alcohol is what has evaporated off what do they replace it with when they bottle it i have never got a proper answer and seem to get fobbed off about the question       

[trigger_andy]

11 hours ago, skc101fc said:

Of course some comes home. There's often 1/2 a litre or so left in the bottom that the pumps can't get out. Be a shame to waste it.

I bought a few barrels that came from the local distillery. When was loading them into the trailer liquid sloshed all over me. Thought it was just water but it was clear it was spirits. 

 

Got them home and drained 1 pint outta each of the barrels and weighed the fluid. It was 60-65% alcohol. It also tasted amazing. 6 Pints of cask strength Whiskey and it cost me £35 a pint, with the barrels thrown in for free.  

[skc101fc]

skc101fc over the years i have visited a few distillery's when you go round there warehouse they always point out the barrel that's 100 years old  (the angels share) the alcohol is what has evaporated off what do they replace it with when they bottle it i have never got a proper answer and seem to get fobbed off about the question       

All casks lose an amount of liquid through evaporation of predominantly the water component of alcohol as it soaks into the oak. It's not actually visible as dampness on the outside unless its leaking. This loss is usually at the rate of 2 - 3% per year, depending on temperature and humidity, even its position in the stack ie hotter in the roof cooler on the floor. The water lost isn't replaced, at bottling, you just get less bottles per cask , hence the increase in price with age, along with storage costs ( think of it as rent) for the time the cask has laid in store. We have just 2 casks of 30 year old, started off at about 190L now contain approximately 120L which will be unlikely to ever see the open retail market, and will be snapped up by the investors in the distillery with the remainder going out through our shop as distillery exclusives, at a price that I'm not going to able to afford. I'll just have to lick out the cask at the end !. The Angel's share puts a smile on my face every day when I open the warehouse door first thing in the morning, that great aroma of oak and alcohol. Beautiful

Hope this has answered your question.

 

 

 

 

[skc101fc]

Sorry Stubby , I've derailed your thread a little here.
One of my favourite 18 year olds is Bowmore 18. A really smooth sweet blend of oak and sherry cask without being overly powerfull in the smoke.
Shaun

[Stubby]

48 minutes ago, skc101fc said:

Sorry Stubby , I've derailed your thread a little here.
One of my favourite 18 year olds is Bowmore 18. A really smooth sweet blend of oak and sherry cask without being overly powerfull in the smoke.
Shaun

Shaun that's fine mate . All interesting , you won't go to prison . 🙂

[Mik the Miller]

14 hours ago, daveatdave said:

skc101fc over the years i have visited a few distillery's when you go round there warehouse they always point out the barrel that's 100 years old  (the angels share) the alcohol is what has evaporated off what do they replace it with when they bottle it i have never got a proper answer and seem to get fobbed off about the question       

 

They don't replace the alcohol @daveatdave they add more water ....

 

The new make spirit is mixed with a little water and put in a cask, sealed and left in a cool dark place for 3 years (to be Scottish Whisky) or longer so that the spirit absorbs 'flavour and colour' from the wooden cask. It is approx 68% by vol when it leaves the still and water is added to drop it to around (typically) 63.5% prior to putting it in the barrel. In a warm place the evaporation is greater, in a fluctuating temperature environment the Angels take a larger share too, (because the wood flexes). The aim is to store the barels in a constant, cool enviroment, maximising the transfer of flavours and minimising losses.

 

Water is 3 molecules (H2O) Alcohol is 9 (C2H5OH) - some alcohol leeches out (30%) as does water (70%) so typically the Cask Stength doesn't change much (percentage wise) and can slightly increase (as more water evaporates off than ethanol).

 

To get the Alcholol/Vol down to (say) 40%, water is added prior to bottling. Prior to WWI all whisky was up around 46% but Lloyd George (he knew my father) decreed 40% as a max in 1917. These days 40% is the minimum if you want to call it Scotch/Scottish Whisky. Higher strengths are available. I like 46%, some 43's but 40% tastes awfully watery to me. if I want water in my whisky i'd rather add it myself than pay someone else to do it.

 

Tax is levied on the bottles alcohol content. The current rate is £28.74p per liter So a 70cl bottle @ 50% is £10.01 whereas a 70cl bottle @ 40%/vol is £8.05, over all it's around 70% tax on a bottle of whisky (tax, duty, vat etc).

 

 

 

[skc101fc]

Out of the still at 68% ? Ours exits at 80.5 - 81.5%, but yes we cask at 63.5%. I guess that's one of the differences between Irish triple distilled and Scottish double. At bottling time, we dilute either to 43.6% for our standard range, or for special or unusual finishes, our blender decides at what strength its best flavours arise.