ScotchTalk Vol. 1: Sherry

Welcome to Volume One of ScotchTalk, the space I reserve for non-review related subjects. Today: sherry.

Sherry is a big deal in the Scotch world. Sometime around 150 years ago distilleries discovered that aging their whisky in ex-sherry casks lent a richer, positively luscious flavor. And they've been doing it ever since. Now many a bottle proudly features "matured in oloroso sherry casks" or "aged exclusively in ex-sherry casks" or a similar statement.

By totally random chance, about a year ago - just before I got into single malt Scotch in a big way - I went through a huge sherry phase. It remains my favorite wine by a large margin - I prefer a glass of amontillado above any red or white wine I'm offered.


So what is sherry? It's a fortified wine made in Jerez, Spain (hence the name ... Jerez = Sherry). Fortified means distilled grape alcohol is added to the wine at the end of the process to boost the alcohol content.

Sherry also uses different grapes than other wines - generally Palomino and Pedro Ximenez (PX). You will frequently find Scotch aged in PX casks. 

The flavor of sherry is very distinctive - rum raisin is the flavor most often described, which is fairly accurate. Heavily alcoholic raisins and plums abound. Sherry generally comes in three general varieties - sweet, dry, and something in between - that fall into what I understand to be six categories. I am not a certified expert in sherry, but I believe the six types are as follows:

Fino - the most "white wine" of the sherries, this is dry dry dry. This is made with high acid Palomino grapes. Often served deeply chilled. 

Manzanilla - a shade richer and darker than Fino, this also is crisp and dry and has a very light body. 

Amontillado - Ah.... Amontillado. My favorite of the sherry varieties, this one was made especially famous by the Edgar Allan Poe story. This is a medium-bodied sherry, and is made by first fermenting the sherry under a blanket of yeast ("flor") and then letting it contact the wood, which provides a beautiful brown color. Perfectly balanced. 

Oloroso - the most common phrase in sherried Scotch, without doubt. "Aged in Oloroso casks" is found everywhere in the Scotch world. Rich and very complicated on the tongue, it is the highest alcohol variant of sherry (generally just below 20% ABV) and has the most contact with the wooden cask, imparting a wider palate of flavors. I love oloroso - the name means "odorous" or "fragrant" in Spanish. 

Palo Cortado - A strange mix of Amontillado and Oloroso that I can't find anywhere near me, and thus can't review for you. I look forward to sampling it in the future. 

Cream - a mix of heavy and light sherries, meant to convey the smoothest possible taste. All I know about cream sherry is that my mother cooked with it when I was growing up. It's what grocery stores sell in the fine baking aisle. I'm sure there are fine and drinkable versions of it, but I've never had one. 

Understanding the flavor profiles of sherry goes a long way in understanding the flavor profiles in a lot of Scotches. The other side of this, I think, is understanding the flavor profiles of bourbon - which I will get to in another ScotchTalk. 

Sherry is very distinctive, made only in one small area of Spain (by law, nothing else can call itself sherry), and absolutely delicious. Also rather strong, which I also don't mind one bit. Raisins, hazelnuts, plums, almond, brown sugar, old wine, oak... it's magical.  

If you are a seasoned Scotch drinker, chances are you already have sampled some sherry and can sense it in any applicable dram you might be sipping. But if you are just getting into Scotch, are have simply never encountered sherry, I highly recommend trying some. It's very cheap - a bottle of decent Amontillado near me goes for about $10 - and the high alcohol content means it last for a bit if you refrigerate it after opening. It tastes like nothing else, and it absolutely worth discovering. 

A few good links that explain various aspects of sherry that I didn't cover:

http://www.wineanorak.com/sherry.htm

http://imbibemagazine.com/The-Truth-About-Sherry

http://www.andalucia.com/gastronomy/spanishsherry.htm

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2012/06/the-serious-eats-guide-to-sherry-what-is-fino-manzanilla-oloroso-solera-sherry-basics.html

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/02/serious-grape-is-sherry-wines-best-kept-secre.html?ref=serelated