Distillery: Eimverk
Country: Iceland
Age: 3 years old
abv: 47%

Whisky is matured in oak. That’s a given. Oak is easy to shape, not prone to cracking and abundantly available. Moreover, it’s got the right level of porosity, allowing the cask contents to evaporate and oxygenate, but not at rates that cause spoilage. Different types of oak can imbue a spirit with different flavour types, whether it’s European oak, American oak, or even Mizunara. The previous contents of the cask also significantly impact a whisky’s flavour, meaning there is an extremely wide array of flavours that distillers can work with. And yet… what if you were to use a wood other than oak? For the reasons mentioned above, it can be challenging to use other wood types, but whisky makers have started experimenting. Japan-based Kamiki offers a cedar wood and cherry wood finished whisky, while Irish distillers Method & Madness produce a chestnut matured expression. I’ve only tried the Kamiki Cedar Wood, but the results are astounding. Even a short finish in a different wood type offers up a wealth of new flavours to explore.