PX Sherry Cask – kilchomania.com (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between sherry cask and sherry seasoned cask? ›

The big difference between the old transport casks and the modern seasoned sherry casks is the type of sherry. Mature, ready-for-bottling sherry would've been inside the transport casks. The sherry used to season modern casks is relatively young, and often distilled into brandy or used to make sherry vinegar.

Some sherry cask whisky can also have dark chocolate, coffee, and even leather notes. The finish can be long and warming with a distinct sherry influence. Overall, the flavour profile of sherry cask whisky is complex and layered, making it a favourite among whisky fans.

The PX stands for Pedro Ximenez and describes naturally very sweet dessert wines. Here's more about PX Sherry and how it comes into play and affects a PX sherry cask finish bourbon...

The definition is simple- an ex-sherry cask was previously full of sherry, then emptied and filled with whisky.

These casks are still treated with sherry, but are not used in the maturation of bottled sherry. Ultimately this imposes a scarcity on the availability of sherry casks, meaning that they are far rarer. In fact, a sherry cask costs ten times more than a bourbon cask, even before it has been filled with liquid.

Glenfiddich Special Edition Sherry Cask Finish single malt Scotch whisky matured for 12 years in American and European Oak Sherry casks before finishing in Amontillado casks adding lively notes of dried fruits and a delicately spicy finish.

Our Solera Fifteen is aged in European oak sherry casks and new oak casks, the whisky is mellowed in our unique Solera Vat, a large oak tun inspired by the sherry bodegas of Spain and Portugal. Never emptied, and kept half full of whiskies since 1998.

After distillation, the pot still and grain spirit – both at an ABV of 63.4% – is put into both sherry and bourbon oak barrels and stored in Jameson's warehouses.

Unlike whisky, sherry maturation is not focused on extracting flavour from the casks, and as such solera casks are almost always old, with little flavour left to give. They're not new when they are added, and if a cask is ever removed from a solera, it's almost certainly due it being broken or leaky.

INTENSE AND SWEET

Pedro Ximénez is obtained from the overly ripe grapes of the same name which are dried in the sun to obtain a must with an exceptionally high concentration of sugar.

What does PX sherry taste like? ›

Classic Pedro Ximénez will display aromas and flavours of raisins, dates and dried figs, often combined with a spicy note and chocolate. The best examples not only display intense, ultra-sweet aromas but also balancing drier flavours of coffee, liquorice and spices.

While Oloroso is dry, Pedro Ximénez (often referred to as simply 'PX') is a sticky-sweet style of wine with notes of raisin, dates and candied fruits.

Massandra's Sherry de la Frontera 1775 or Massandra Sherry 1775 holds the world record for the most expensive Sherry bottle and was sold for $43,500 at a 2001 Sotheby's London auction.

It's a relatively heavy cropper, producing large bunches of pale green grapes, which are harvested at a potential alcohol level of 11–12.5 degrees. The resulting base wines are crisp with a neutral character. It's the production process that transforms these into the compelling, diverse wines that sherry is known for.

Sherry wine therefore reaches its optimal point for consumption at the moment it is withdrawn from the butt. We should not expect it to improve inside the bottle and, in fact, once it has passed a certain time there we are able to detect a certain deterioration of some of the wine's organoleptic qualities.

It is precisely these colouring and aromatising substances arising from the combination of oak and Sherry which make Sherry Casks unique; the noblest possible container for the subsequent ageing of the finest quality spirits like Brandy de Jerez or Scotch Whisky.

Sherry is a complex category of wine that encompasses seven different styles. These are manzanilla, fino, amontillado, oloroso, palo cortado, cream and Pedro Ximénez.

Sherry casks add a richer sweetness with dried fruit notes including raisins. These flavour differences are principally due to the species of oak, with Bourbon barrels made from American oak (Quercus alba) while Sherry casks are European oak (Quercus robur).