Variation in barrel materials?

I've only ever hear of American oak, Spanish oak, and Japanese oak as the three varieties used. I believe that other woods are too porous to be used as barrels. Maybe other woods could be used as chips inside another vessel, however!

And of course French oak... forgot that one.

I know buffalo trace is doing a bunch of experiments with different woods, including some Mongolian oak...who knows if they'll see the light of day.

Mackmyra uses some native Swedish oak, but I'm not entirely sure how different that is from other European oaks...some of the distilleries, although not many, still use pine wash-backs, which could have some influence on the final product.

Does anybody know the rules on this? Scotch must be matured for at least 3 years in oak casks, but it's hard to tell whether it's allowed to mature it in casks of other wood types after the 3 years.

In any case, I'd love to try a whisky matured in something else than oak.

Brown-Forman’s Canadian Mist Distillery in Collingwood, Ontario uses toasted maple staves, from barrels made at their Kentucky cooperage, to finish the Collingwood Canadian Whisky. It is an interesting expression. There is no mistaking the maple.

@Anxyous Scotch must be aged in oak all the way.

@systemdown Well, there you go. But seeing how some distilleries choose to release

Something wrong with the system, it seems, here's the post in full: Well, there you go. But seeing how some distilleries choose to release

Nope, won't work!

Here's another new spin on maturation:

scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/glenfiddichcaskofdre…

Forty Creek employs Canadian white oak in their Confederation Oak Reserve.

The following is a brief excerpt from, "Notes from John Hall, Whisky Maker". Canadian and American white oak trees are the same species. However, the cooler growing conditions in Canada result in slower growing trees that are more dense than their American counterparts. Consequently, the aromas and flavour profiles of Canadian oak are very different due to the Canadian terroir.

fortycreekwhisky.com/Product pages/…

The Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Maple Wood Finish, which was released in late 2010, finished the bourbon whiskey in separate barrels made entirely of charred maple wood. They announced at the time that they believed that it was the first time that anyone had successfully discovered how to make maple wood practical for the maturation of whisk(e)ys. It had previously been believed that the physical properties of maple wood would not be adequate for use in whiskey cooperage. It is a delicious whiskey, too, as long as you are someone who is able to enjoy sweet maple in your flavour profiles.