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Sherry cask whisky

Sherry cask whisky has spent all or part of its time in oak casks that previously held sherry, which tends to add dried fruit, spice and a darker colour. Some whiskies are matured in sherry casks from the start. Others are moved into one for a final period, which the label usually calls a finish. Both are listed here.

Several distilleries build their style around sherry casks, including Macallan, GlenDronach and Tamdhu, which matures in oloroso casks. Where the label names the sherry, you can narrow the list to oloroso or Pedro Ximénez casks. For how sherry casks are coopered, seasoned in Jerez, and used in Scotch, see our guide to sherry casks. We tag a bottle when its name or a retailer’s description mentions sherry, so a sherry-matured bottle that does not say so may be missing.

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

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Questions

What is the cheapest sherry cask whisky?
The cheapest sherry cask whisky is Tullamore DEW (40% ABV, 70cl), at £24.09 from Master of Malt. That is £29.04 delivered to the UK mainland for one bottle. Next cheapest: Slane Irish Whiskey (£24.60) and Speyburn 10 Year Old (£25.00).
How much does sherry cask whisky cost?
Sherry cask whisky costs from £24.09 to £5,040.00, with a median of £82.95 for a full-size bottle. The dearest is Macallan 25 Year Old Sherry Oak Pre 2018.
What is the oldest sherry cask whisky you can buy?
Wildmoor 40 Year Old Black Mountain Pedro Ximenez Blended Scotch Whisky, at 40 years old, from £774.95.
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.
How is a sherry cask seasoned?
A new butt is filled with Sherry in a bodega and left for months, often a year or more (Whiskipedia cites 6 to 30 months), while water escapes through the wood and the wine’s colour and aroma compounds soak into the staves. The staves of a butt can soak up as much as 15 litres of wine. Oloroso is the Sherry most used for seasoning; fino gives subtler character and Pedro Ximénez passes on colour and some sweetness. The seasoning wine is reused for further casks and is not sold as Sherry.
What flavours does a sherry cask give whisky?
The Sherry used sets most of the character. Whiskipedia’s summary is that fino gives nutty, fresh and citrus notes, manzanilla is similar with a salty, marine edge, oloroso gives the rich “Christmas cake” of dried fruit and warm spice, and Pedro Ximénez adds intense sweetness with chocolate and espresso notes. The oak matters too: European oak tends to give darker, spicier, dried-fruit flavours and American oak more vanilla and fresh fruit.