When used in conjunction with barrel aging, oak alternatives are a natural way to use 100% oak to access a new spectrum of flavors which can enhance and improve the complexity of a spirit.
Bourbon Barrel Aged Wines
Most of you who follow the ISC Barrels blog post are familiar with the use of new charred oak barrels in the bourbon making process. Many of you also know that once the aged bourbon is dumped, the barrel can no longer be used for bourbon production and is sold to another producer to start a new life.
Acreage Purchased in Northern Tennessee
Independent Stave Company (parent company of ISC Barrels) recently purchased 3,000 acres of land in northern Tennessee. The land will be used to supply oak logs for ISC Barrels.
Q&A with Preservation Distillery
Account Manager Chad Spalding interviews Head Distiller Matthew Jackson from Preservation Distillery [VIDEO]
Product Profile: Small Batch Spiral Cut Barrel
After charring, we follow a proprietary process to cut spirals throughout the inside of the barrel, significantly increasing the surface area to allow aging spirits access to alternating layers of char and white oak.
Bourbon Pursuit Podcast Episode
In October Independent Stave Company CEO Brad Boswell sat down at Kentucky Cooperage with the guys of Bourbon Pursuit Podcast to discuss the cooperage industry.
He had fun discussing his family history in the cooperage industry, trends and many different aspects of Independent Stave Company during the interview – which begins around the 8:00 minute mark.
2018 Kentucky Cooperage Tour Stats
At Kentucky Cooperage we enjoy showing people how we craft barrels for the World’s Finest Spirits. Thank you to all the visitors who stopped by in 2018 to take a tour of our facility. Check out some of these fun stats from our tours this past year.
From Forest to Barrel: Toasting
All ISC barrels that require a toast profile to be applied before charring are crafted at our Missouri Cooperage located in Lebanon, MO. In our first post on barrel profiling, we discuss that a charred barrel has two layers – a char layer and a red layer.
Studying Maturation Dynamics with our Environmental Chamber
At Kentucky Research Center, most of our efforts are geared towards sensory analysis, customer product development and flavor discovery. However, thanks to a new piece of equipment that we acquired earlier this year, we can now study another very important aspect of barrel aged spirits: maturation dynamics.
International Spirit Spotlight: Rhum
Up next in our International Spirits category, we are excited to bring you a post on Rhum. If you missed our first international spirits post on tequila, give it a read next!
In March we received a visit from several ISC Barrels Rhum customers accompanied by Emmanuel, ISC Barrels Account Manager in France.
2018 Kentucky Bourbon Festival
The Independent Stave Company team had a great time at the 2018 Kentucky Bourbon Festival.
Friday night we hosted our Kentucky customers at ISC Barrels, Bourbon & Music where we enjoyed greeting friends and rocking out to Clare Dunn & Dustin Lynch.
Q&A with Chattanooga Whiskey
ISC Barrel Account Manager, Chad Spalding, recently visited Tennessee and talked with Grant McCracken, Chattanooga Whiskey Master Distiller.
From Forest to Barrel: Barrel Assembly
As barrels exit the steam tunnel they move to the “windlass” where the top of the raised barrel is squeezed together and the catch ring is replaced by a temporary head ring. The barrel then travels through the dry-fire tunnel to dry the staves and stabilize the barrel’s shape. […]
Partnering with American Forests
Independent Stave Company and American Forests have launched a one of-its-kind Oak Restoration Fund to invest in key projects that ensure the sustainability of oak forests.
Independent Stave Company is passionate about sustainable forest management. Partnerships with organizations like American Forests are important to us to continue finding ways to translate this passion into action.
Q&A Prichard’s Distillery
ISC Barrel Account Manager, Chad Spalding, recently visited Kelso, Tennessee and talked with Phil Prichard, Prichard’s Distillery Master Distiller.
Product Profile: Finishing Products
Whether you’re barrel aging and looking for another oak component or working with a spirit that needs a different oak profile, finishing products can help you achieve your desired results.
Barrels + Beer
I am always surprised how many people are unaware of the role that oak barrels play in the craft beer industry. People often tell me that they thought only wine, or bourbon and scotch aged in barrels.
From Forest to Barrel: Stave Finishing
This is the fourth blog post in our series, “From Forest to Barrel”. Catch up by reading the last post. Enjoy the journey as we share how our barrels are expertly crafted from start to finish. From Forest to Barrel: Stave Finishing After rough staves are made at our company-owned …
Q&A Woodinville Whiskey
Q&A: Woodinville Whiskey Co-Owner & Head Distiller Brett CarlileISC Barrel Account Manager, Chad Spalding, recently visited Woodinville, Washington and talked with Brett Carlile, Woodinville Whiskey Co-Owner and Head Distiller. Chad gets some great insight from Brett on starting a distillery to make bourbon in the Seattle area, what’s changed since …
The Role of Oxygenation in Barrel Aged Spirits Part II
In Oxygenation Part I, we discussed different variables that influence the rate of oxygenation during the maturation period. In this post, we switch gears and focus on what kind of reactions we can expect to see as a product of the oxygenation process.