Uisge Beatha Whisky prices compared

Amontillado cask whisky

5 bottles in stock, with the best current price from the UK retailers we check.

Learn more on Whiskipedia

Questions

What is the cheapest amontillado cask whisky?
The cheapest amontillado cask whisky is Inchgower James Eadie Single Amontillado Sherry Cask #354554 2008 13 year old Whisky (13 years old, 55.8% ABV, 70cl), at £59.95 from The Whisky Barrel. That is £64.90 delivered to the UK mainland for one bottle. Next cheapest: Glenallachie 9 Year Old Amontillado Sherry Cask Finish (£69.95) and Inchdairnie KinGlassie 8 Year Old Double Matured (£70.95).
How much does amontillado cask whisky cost?
Amontillado cask whisky costs from £59.95 to £399.00, with a median of £70.95 for a full-size bottle. The dearest is Springbank 10 Year Old Sherry Amontillado Cask Matured.
Where do sherry casks come from?
Sherry casks are seasoned in the Sherry region of Andalusia in the far south of Spain, the “Jerez-Xérès-Sherry” Denomination of Origin around Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Cooperages build the butts and Sherry bodegas season them before they are shipped to distilleries. Since 2015 the Consejo Regulador has offered a “Sherry Cask” seal, a tag whose QR code records the bodega, the cask’s capacity, the type of Sherry used and the minimum months of seasoning.
How big is a sherry cask?
The classic sherry cask in whisky is the butt, about 500 litres (the old Jerez export butt of 30 arrobas), though bodega butts run about 567 to 600 litres and a half butt or sherry hogshead holds about 250 litres. Puncheons range from about 450 to 700 litres, and Scotch law caps casks at 700 litres. For comparison, a bourbon barrel is about 200 litres, a Bordeaux barrique 225 litres, a port pipe about 550 to 650 litres, a quarter cask about 125 litres and an octave about 50 litres.
What is flor?
Flor is a film of living yeast that grows on the surface of fino and manzanilla in the butt, shielding the wine from oxygen and giving it its sharp, almond-like character. It survives at about 15% alcohol and is fed by the young wine added as the solera is refreshed. Amontillado starts under flor and then loses it, and palo cortado begins like a fino before being refortified, so all four styles owe part of their character to it.
What is an amontillado cask?
An amontillado cask has been seasoned with amontillado, a dry Palomino Sherry that ages in two stages: first under flor like a fino, then, once the flor disappears, oxidatively like an oloroso. That makes it darker, stronger and more structured than fino, usually 17 to 20% alcohol and topaz to amber in colour.
What does amontillado taste like?
The Consejo Regulador describes amontillado as dry and elegant, with hazelnut, aromatic herbs and dark tobacco on the nose and a lingering finish of nuts and wood. Wines that spent longer under flor are paler and sharper, while those with more oxidative ageing show more spice and wood. Seasoning transfers some of the wine’s character into the staves, which a whisky matured in the cask later picks up.