ABOVE: Speyside employee fits final black steel rings.
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Speyside Bourbon Cooperage exports its millionth barrel
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STORY AND PHOTOS BY GEORGE SHILLCOCK
he scent of charred and fresh lumber overwhelms the moment someone walks into Speyside Bourbon Cooperage, but after the barrel supplier produced its millionth barrel, it is no surprise that some of its veteran workers have become nose-blind. FROM SEED TO STAVE The process that goes into barreling bourbon starts sooner than some realize, says Rob Kincaid, the production and reliability manager for Speyside. The process begins as soon as the seed is planted. Once Speyside receives the wood from one of their five stave mills, they unload it, assign it and begin a two-part drying process, using a pre-dry and a 130-degree kiln room. After drying, the staves (quarter-sawn planks of white oak) are made into the barrel’s head (the lid), or processed and shaped into the body. The barrels are sent through a series of steam tunnels and preheat machines to make them pliable for shaping. Next, hoops shape the barrels before the most important step in the cooperage’s process: the char. “The char is the heart of the cooperage, giving
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100 percent of the color so [the liquor] goes in like water and comes out like nice, dark bourbon,” Kincaid says. After the barrels are fired, the retaining rings are removed and the barrel heads are inserted before the barrel is left to cool and relax. Every barrel is tested to see if the staves, hoops and heads are in their proper places before they are drilled, and water added to inspect for leaks. If problems are found, the barrels are fixed and put back on the line. “We’re shipping day-to-day about five to six loads. A typical load, we’re looking at 288 barrels in a trailer, and for the most part, 90 to 95 percent are within the Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee region,” Kincaid says. One million barrels were a goal for Kincaid, but he is already looking ahead. He wants to reach the next million. ONE MILLION BARRELS AND ONE MILLION MORE
For a business with international origins that is headquartered in Jackson, Speyside knows its roots. The company originated in Scotland in 1947 but expanded to include both the Ohio cooperage
