Maturing with Purpose

Struan Mackie (right) with Ben Loseke (left) at Midwest Barrel Company

Behind every bottle of aged spirit released at North Point Distillery lies an often overlooked part of the spirits' story: the quiet, patient work of cask management.

When Alex MacDonald and I founded North Point we knew we wanted to create something truly special. In spirit terms, that meant controlling as much as we possibly could, wrestling with every single process from raw material selection through to maturation and the environment around the distillery.

Before opening our doors, we delved into industry best-practice, visited numerous distilleries and even ventured into the world of Rum and Kentucky Bourbon. We believed that there should be no stone left unturned when it comes to building the business, and we had no issues in seeing what we could ‘bring back’ to Scotland to support our ambitions for North Point and Dalclagie.

With stills designed, equipment on order and mashbills being thought out, our plans turned to maturation. To us, cask management wasn’t just a logistical necessity, it was something we always felt could deeply influence our spirits. Get it right, and we could watch with delight as our spirit matured into something special. Get it wrong, and our warehouses would be full to the rafters with a product that ‘wasn’t quite what we wanted’.

Receiving a cask delivery; Alex MacDonald (right)

The casks we use, whether they be ex-bourbon barrels from Kentucky, rich Spanish Palo Cortado sherry butts, or some of our more experimental finishes (keep posted for these in future blogs), each bring something unique to the table.

As many of our customers will now know, our Dalclagie new make spirit (or NMS for short), is punchy and full-bodied, but it also carries tropical notes that are very uncommon in modern Scotch Whisky due to the use of Kveik yeast. It is a spirit that must be met by an equal balance of nurture and restraint, and only the best casks will be able to offer both of these traits.

It is therefore no surprise that we don’t take wood choice lightly and each cask or barrel is hand-selected not just for its provenance and build quality, but for how we believe it will interact with our spirit over time. On arrival at our Forss facility, our Operations Team check each barrel as it is unloaded and catalogues for filling. They are opened, inspected and signed off by the Distiller for use in Whisky or Rum production. Although rejecting a barrel can be a frustrating and costly exercise, we are committed to only using the very best vessels in our maturation process.

Ultimately, we select casks that complement the spirit's character, but also help round out the ‘jaggy edges’ of traditional Single Malt pot distillation; to mask this, or overpower the spirit character by using overly seasoned wood, or opting for too much first-fill influence might yield a passable Malt in the short term, but as the spirit matures it would be a mistake.

Laying Down

Maturation here on the north coast of Scotland, where the climate is cooler and the air is salted by the battering waves of the Pentland Firth, adds another layer of complexity.

Distilleries such as Old Pulteney and Bowmore have successfully harnessed the influence of the coast, using their traditionally built warehouses to lean into the influence of sea salt and brine in the natural environment. But being based in a former U.S Navy Listening Station means that our choice of warehouse is a truly unique approach to maturation. Our facilities are expansive and were built by the famous Sea-Bees who didn’t cut corners with the size, scope and impenetrable perimeters that were required during the Cold War.

Warehouse 1; rickhousing and dunnage maturation

Taking inspiration from Kentucky rickhouses, our Warehouse 1 is home to towering wooden structures that house our oldest drams. The extra space between the casks allow for air to flow between the rows, with maturation occurring at different paces depending on how high (or low) a barrel may be stored.

In the Cold War era ‘bunker’, traditional dunnage rails are used. Taking advantage of the incredibly cool environment, which fluctuates as little as several degrees over the course of a year!

While dunnage rails are very quick and easy to put up they are notoriously hard to monitor and sample from. They are essentially giant games of Tetris, and the decision to disassemble one is never taken lightly!

Active Stewardship

Each cask is on a journey, and one that never means simply laying them down and returning to them at some point in the future.

Each cask is given a unique tag that forms our site-wide inventory system. With this unique number, we roster our spirits for regular sampling. Greg, our Head Distiller, leads the team in the regular assessments, where we look at the liquid development, sensory evaluation, and of course taste. By doing this periodically, we ensure that each and every one of our casks are developing in line with expectations.

Although the cask tracker allows us to monitor each cask on a computer, a good Single Malt or Single Estate Rum will tell us it’s ready well before any programme could. That is why the human touch is vital, even in the most advanced of production environments.

When we do intervene, we do so to improve the spirit or to ensure that a cask will reach its maturation milestones. Leaks and cask damage do occasionally happen, and the Operations Team will transfer liquid from one cask to another in a process called ‘re-racking’, ensuring we minimise the loss of our precious liquid.

Sometimes we undertake this process to add additional influence to a spirit, taking liquid that may require ‘finishing’ and transferring it from one type of barrel to another. This is very common at the tail-end of the maturation process, where Whisky (stored predominantly in ex-bourbon barrels) is transferred into more exotic vessels such as Sherry or Port. 

See for yourself

We are incredibly proud of the cask management we undertake at North Point and much of it is on show as part of our award-winning tours of the Distillery.

Join us for one of our in-depth Founders’ Tours, where you will be guided through our warehouses by either our Head Distiller, my co-founder Alex MacDonald, or myself. It is a unique look ‘behind the scenes’ at our Forss site and shines a light on a part of the industry that is often overlooked, but is absolutely essential to the successful production of aged spirits.

We hope to see you soon!