Sulphur Notes

Sulphur Notes? just another colour on the whisky palate. I've had two sulphured whiskies and after the initial distaste I grew to like them and would favour them when looking for a different mouth feel.

I'm quite a fan of Mortlach which has a reputation for some fairly sulphurous whiskies - particularly the more sherried examples.

Having had a few bourbon cask bottles from this distillery I recently tried one of your (SMWS) Mortlachs. Definitely the most sulphurous whisky I have tasted to date and I was initially a little taken aback. Having persevered with a few more drams I've grown to really like the additional notes.

But I can understand why some people might be put off. I think its like peaty whiskies, you love it or hate it.

I am extremely sensitive to sulphur in my whiskies. Any sign of sulphur notes in a whisky is a major drawback as far as I am concerned. The only exception is the distillery bottlings of Mortlach (the 16yo Flora and Fauna) where the sulphur is of a type that is bearable and wanted since it is a part of the distillery profile.

Personaly I am quite sensitive to whiskies that have been in a sulphured cask, and in general I consider this a flaw as it is a result of an additional process that I do not consider positive in any way. For me there are better ways to deal with European oak casks before they are transported, as has been recently shown by Amrut in their handling of the Butts used in the "intermediate sherry cask" release.

Whiskies being sulphurous as new make as an intentional component of their distillery character (Mortlach, Glenkinchie etc) is quite different for me. Often these qualities are essential to the future interaction between the spirit and the cask and more often than not the sulphury notes are no longer with the spirit, or have at least changed a great deal by the time the whisky reaches 5,8 or 10 years old.

Sulphur seems to really polarize opinion, I have a low threshold personally.

Thanks to those who commented on our Sulphur discussion - you helped put together our article 'A matter of taste' (January Unfiltered magazine).

Charles Maclean, Dr Jim Swan, George Grant and Jim Murray all add there tuppence worth..

smws.co.uk/your-society-adventure/…

smws.co.uk/your-society-adventure/…

Join the discussion Facebook.com/unfilteredmagazine

One small error: the law that prohibited the transport of filled sherry casks was introduced in May 1977, not in the 1990s. All denominated Spanish wines had to follow this rule, and Jerez was accepted as a D.O.C. in 1977.

A very enjoyable article, thanks SMWS.

Thanks for your email Whisky Notes. We actually checked this out before publishing... it's our understanding that filled casks were being transported to the UK until they came under the EU's PDO rules in the '90s. The rule that sherry has to be produced in the Jerez area was actually one of the first D.O marks to be brought in (we think you mean D.O, rather than D.O.C?) in the 1930s.

Our reseach can't find any rule change relating to sherry from 1977. It's possible the filled cask shipping rule was only incorporated into EU-wide law in the 90s, and that there was another rule observed in the UK which predates that, but we cannot find anything suggesting that's the case.

Unless you know something we don't? @WhiskyNotes

NB - There was an important case in 1967, in which producers of "British Sherry" were forced to stop using the name because the Spanish proved that it referred to the region itself. But that was about production, not bottling. Perhaps this is what you are thinking about? @WhiskyNotes

Hi SMWS, You're right, Jeréz is not a D.O.C. (denominación de orígen calificada) but just a D.O. I was referring to this Spanish "ordén" which regulated the Jerez and Manzanilla denominaciones: boe.es/boe/dias/… which I believe also started the D.O. qualification for the Jeréz region. I've been trying to find out the exact source of this cask transport rule for some time now, but I have been unable to find it. The 1977 law refers to quite a few earlier rules that applied to all D.O. wine regions so I supposed it was a wider rule that applied to sherry as soon as it was accepted as a D.O.

By the way, the 1977 law clearly states that sherry wine needed to be bottled within the Jeréz region. So basically it would still have been possible to ship a filled cask, but the wine would be lost as it couldn't be bottled as a sherry wine any more. I assume this already had a big effect on how the whisky producer received their casks, as I don't think they would pay for the wine without being able to bottle it?

Yes, a very good article and quite an interesting offshoot on the topic here, its a fascinating symbiosis between the whisky and sherry producing industries.

Hi Whisky Notes. I wrote that particular piece, so it might be easiest if I pick up your query from here. I had it on good authority that the bottle at source rules were only recognised by the UK when the EU got involved, but you've certainly thrown that into some doubt! I've passed the whole thing on to a friendly food & drink lawyer, so we'll hopefully have a full explanation soon.

@RichardC Thanks for joining the discussion - I, for one, am following this with interest. I'm fascinated by the way certain legal decisions have altered the course of whisky production. Regulations regarding sherry being one but also the rules regarding bourbon barrels dramatically altered the directions Scotch flavour profiles have taken.

@Piero - Absolutely. I think the whole history and evolution of whisky production has been shaped by the law (or breaking it) in one way or another. One for a future issue, I think!

Had a quick note back from the lawyer and they're going to try to get us an answer some time next week. Oh, the suspense!

Mark Gillespie asks that question of Jim Murray in WhiskyCast Episode 302, Feb 6th 2011. "I don't get it, why would people like sulpher in their whisky. I mean the whole point, why are Pot Stills made pf copper?. The reason their made of copper is to take the sulphurous products or biproducts of distillation out. That's the whole point, there should be no sulphur in there. I don't actually understand this nonsense".