[#AllAboutWhiskyph] Sherry Influence.

Like #peat, sherry is another word that you'll tend to hear a lot from experienced whisky drinkers.

For the first year or so of my #whisky hobby I never really knew what it meant when it is said that a whisky has a "sherry influence". I also didn't have any clue what sherry wines taste like as they're a bit difficult to find in the Philippines.

Wanting to know more, I asked some more experienced whisky drinkers what are good sherry whiskies to try.

I ended up getting myself a #Bunnahabhain 12, #Glenfarclas 105, #Aberlour A'bunandh, and an #Ardbeg Uigeadail.

As an experiment, I tried to have a dram of each to compare and see what they had in common. While each dram is very different from the next, I found that they were similarly sweet; had nutty profiles; had either some red or dark fruits like cherries, cranberries, plums or some dried fruit like raisins or prunes; and spices like cinnamon or clove.

Of course, there is much more to sherry influence than my crude observations. Sherry is a fortified wine originating from the Jerez Region of Spain. A fortified wine is a wine to which an additional distilled spirit has been added.

Whiskies which have a sherry influence get those characteristics from being matured (either completely or partially) in barrels which were previously used for storing sherry. I've read that the practice of using sherry casks to mature whisky started in the 16th century when sherry was really popular in the UK.

But sherry is itself a general category. There are different types of sherry wines that can have an influence in the flavors of a whisky. There's the dry fino, the saltier manzanilla, the darker and spicier oloroso, the sweet rich Pedro Ximenez, and the more salt-caramel amontillado.

Some people use the word "#SherryBomb" to define whiskies that have spent most of their maturation in #sherry casks. But sherry influence can also be gained by just finishing a bourbon-barrel matured whisky in a sherry cask.

As a sherry novice myself, there is so much more to try! Sláinte!🥃

Image Courtesy of @WhiskyPH

@WhiskyPH

At its core, whisky appreciation is an exercise in memory. Notes of a whisky enthusiast in the Philippines. 🥃🇵🇭