HUMIDITY
OVERLOOK HUMIDITY AT YOUR OWN PERIL WHILE CASK WAREHOUSE MANAGERS WILL OFTEN TALK ABOUT TEMPERATURE, HUMIDITY CONTROL SHOULD ALSO BE PART OF THEIR CASK AGING AGENDA. VELO MITROVICH REPORTS
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WINTER 2021
D
uring lockdown I have
breathing, this action allows for flavours,
had more opportunities
water and alcohol being exhaled and
to listen to music and to
the aromas and smells of the sounding
read books. One of the
area being drawn inside. You can taste
books I have managed
the sea in some Scottish whiskies aged
to catch up with was Pete Brown’s latest
near the sea; Kavalan says its whisky has
- Craft: An Argument: Why the term ‘Craft
a somewhat tropical taste, again from
Beer’ is completely undefinable, hopelessly
environment.
misunderstood and absolutely essential. If you have not read this then I suggest
Many of the factors affecting casked
you do as it seeks to answer some
whisky seem to be accepted as just part
important questions.
of the process. Too little humidity and
Reading this book made me think,
your barrel gives up water; too much
it definitely helped me to begin to
humidity and you lose alcohol. There
crystallise my thoughts on the craft beer
have been even a few cases in the
movement.
Scottish whisky industry where casks that sat for decades had alcohol levels which
You have to feel some pity for Kavalan’s
dipped below 40% ABV, which tragically
master distiller in Taiwan. The island, off
meant the long-kept whisky could no
mainland China, is subtropical with high
longer be called Scotch whisky.
temperatures and humidity, occasional typhoons and a cold winter that lasts
But humidity is one part of the process
about four weeks at best.
that you can take control of and relatively
If ever a whisky environment can be far
easily.
from Scotland, this is probably it. Angels just don’t want a sip of the award-winning
The ability to control levels of humidity is
single malt whisky. With loses of up to
one of the most significantly overlooked
15 percent a year, it seems they want to
issues in modern industrial activity such
drink the whole cask!
as distilleries and breweries. Part of the reason for this is, most people don’t
No wonder the majority of Kavalan’s
notice humidity to anywhere near the
whisky is aged seven years or less, with
same degree that they are aware of other
most bottles having NAS on them – No
equally basic phenomena, such as heat,
Age Statement.
cold and draughts. But, as cask expert
Whisky matures in the cask – not in the
and writer Matt Strickland says, “Humidity
bottle – during aging when so much
is just as important a consideration
of the flavour comes from the three
though it’s the one that many distillers
elements that come out to play: the
think about the least.”
actual cask, aging time, and essential chemical reactions that take place
And it’s just not the obvious reasons why
between all these factors.
humidity needs to be factored you’re your cask warehouse management.
Almost like the tides going in and out,
Humidity can have a profound influence
with the wood used in casks being
on materials, on production costs, on
semi-porous, it expands on hot days and
service and maintenance expenditure
contacts during cooler days or at night.
and on asset durability, as well as
Like as if the casks are alive and
energy consumption and the resultant
DISTILLERS JOURNAL
