I just read this brief article which touches on the question whether the physical and geographical location that whisky casks are matured in affects the flavour profile of the resultant whisky.
The summary comments are: (cut and pasted)
If you pan back on Google Earth, Scotland shrinks to a tiny jagged fist on the eastern edge of the Atlantic. You would imagine the climate is much the same everywhere, yet for those who live here it can vary dramatically from coast to coast.
Even when the television weather forecast puts the entire country under a black cloud with two drops (which is not uncommon), the rain that falls tends to be softer in the west and harsher in the east.
Nick Morgan says that ‘Scotland’s marine microclimate is pretty consistent’, but if he spent six months on Harris, followed by six months in Alloa, he might change his mind.
On the other hand, there’s a lot of romantic hogwash talked of storm-tossed distilleries and their whisky casks breathing in the salty sea air. As a compound, salt has never been found in any single malt. And in terms of aesthetics, as Morgan suggests, it would be unthinkable to cover Islay with enough warehouses to mature all its whisky.
I just read this brief article which touches on the question whether the physical and geographical location that whisky casks are matured in affects the flavour profile of the resultant whisky. The summary comments are: (cut and pasted)
If you pan back on Google Earth, Scotland shrinks to a tiny jagged fist on the eastern edge of the Atlantic. You would imagine the climate is much the same everywhere, yet for those who live here it can vary dramatically from coast to coast. Even when the television weather forecast puts the entire country under a black cloud with two drops (which is not uncommon), the rain that falls tends to be softer in the west and harsher in the east. Nick Morgan says that ‘Scotland’s marine microclimate is pretty consistent’, but if he spent six months on Harris, followed by six months in Alloa, he might change his mind. On the other hand, there’s a lot of romantic hogwash talked of storm-tossed distilleries and their whisky casks breathing in the salty sea air. As a compound, salt has never been found in any single malt. And in terms of aesthetics, as Morgan suggests, it would be unthinkable to cover Islay with enough warehouses to mature all its whisky.
I guess at the end of the day I'm a bit of a romantic. Your thoughts? source: scotchwhisky.com/magazine/opinion-debate/…