NEW Proprietary Research Whiskey Library: Europe
By Andrew Wiehebrink, R&D Spirits Division
Through our experimental barrel program, the whiskey library at the Kentucky Research Center has grown from a small collection of roughly 100 bottles to 2,000+. Over the past eight years we have been able to collect information from practically every aspect of spirits maturation in the United States. Today, our library continues to grow and serves as a database for innovation that benefits all our distilling partners.
To further these efforts, ISC recently expanded its footprint overseas with the opening of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel (KBB) in Kildare, Ireland. This facility serves as a homebase for ISC operations in one of the world’s busiest whiskey epicenters. In addition to processing new and used barrels headed for distilleries in Europe, the facility will also house all the liquid from our overseas experimental barrel program. The work we are doing overseas with maturation research will be a direct extension of what we have done here in Kentucky for the past several years.
Earlier this year, we partnered on a large Irish whiskey experiment with a distillery in Ireland. The barrels for this multifaceted experiment were filled in late summer. During a trip to Ireland, Jeff LaHue, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Mark Quick, Managing Director of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ireland, and I were able to taste through the very first samples drawn from those experimental barrels. These 2-month-old samples from the finishing portion of the barrel experiment are quite special because this lot has become the first set of bottles to grace the shelves of our new library at KBB Ireland.
This experiment is one of our larger experiments with close to 98 barrels in the lot. The lot is divided into a finishing portion as well as a new make portion. The finishing portion will last 6 months, and the new make
experiment will go on for the next 5 years. Previous to this experiment, our largest experiment that we have completed was 120 barrels and that was with the Willett Distillery here in Kentucky.
Our proprietary samples (including samples from new experiments in Scotland, Japan, and Ireland) will quickly begin to fill the new library where they will be utilized for sensory and chemical analysis, furthering our understanding of spirits maturation in large global categories. This new library represents a large investment by Independent Stave Company which strengthens our commitment to our distilling partners while simultaneously solidifying our leadership in spirits maturation research across the globe.
Distillers stateside who are interested in scheduling a consultation to discuss custom barrel needs, can reach me at andrew.wiehebrink@independentstavecompany.com. Distillers abroad who are interested in learning more can contact Mark Quick at mquick@kentuckybourbonbarrel.com.