So would I... and that has kinda got me wondering about what Bruichladdich added to their pink whisky!

They didn't add anything, Bruichladdich are one of the distilleries who guarantee no chill filtering and no added colouring.

The pinkness came from finishing in a specific wine cask (I can't remember which one).

That's good to know... about the colouring at least; how does the chill filtering affect the finished product?


Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find out what that is!

OK, Bruichladdich 20y (first edition) was a very good, but quite standard 20y offering.

The second edition was nicknamed 'flirtation' as they matured the whisky firstly in bourbon casks for 1040 weeks, then swapped it into some quite rare Mourvedre wine casks for a further 5 weeks. This managed to give the whisky a slightly red-pink hue so the now infamous 'laddie marketing machine came up with the idea of a little holiday romance between the whisky and the Mouvedre casks, hence the name flirtation.

The next edition, edition 3, was called Islands as it was matured for 20 years in American Oak casks on Islay, then swapped into Madeira hogsheads which had previously contained Malmsey wine.


As for chill-flitering: The process used by many is to cool the whisky to the point where a sediment forms and then pass it through a filter to remove the said sediment.
The current trend of thought is not to do this as these so-called 'imperfections' (sediment) actually add to the flavour of the whisky.
If you see 'NCF' on a bottle this means Non chill filtered.

Also, if you have a bottle which is NOT chill filtered, then when it gets quite cold you will see the sediment appear, perhaps the whisky even goes cloudy. Not to worry! When it returns to room temperature it will be clear again.

Did I pass my assignment sir?

You certainly have Keith... thanks for that!

Anyway, this is yet another topic I have split from its original location... it was a shame that Glascarnoch's intro was being taken over!

Keith, you even got me (as a teetotaller) fascinated by this alcohol impregnated thread.

Well, whilst we're at it, here's one for you:

It seems that many distilleries add colour (caramel) as there is a common perception amongst the public tha twhisky must have a specific look, or colour. Most people also believe caramel to be sweet, that is not the case, it is really quite bitter, just imagine your Tunnocks wafers without the chocolate, they are not exactly sweet.

Anyway, if we forget caramel and colouring, the cask that is used for maturation is 100% responsible for the resulting colour of the whisky.
Next time you go on a distillery visit look at what goes through that spirit safe, it looks like water!
The colour comes only from the barrel, or more importantly, what was in the barrel previously.

As an example, here are two bottles of Glenglassaugh new spirit, we can't call either whisky as neither are yet 3 years old.

One is directly from the still, the other has been matured for a mere 6 months in a cask:



Sorry, no points this time for guessing which is which

Does this depend a little on what you call "artificial"? Certainly adding stuff specifically to impart colour, such as caramel, can only be regarded as artificial.

But as the spirit emerges from the still completely clear and only acquires any colour at all during the maturation process because of what it picks up from the barrel it is stored in, isn't all whisky - arguably - artificially coloured? Maybe it's simplest just to regard the maturation process as part of the "natural" production of whisky and not consider barrel colouration as artificial. But then where does this leave marketing ploys like the pink whisky described above or - god forbid - what emerges when some bright spark stores scotch in barrels previously used for green chartreuse...

Ken, there is an argument that would agree with your comment, but generally, maturation in an oak cask which has previously been used for either bourbon or sherry is indeed considered part of the 'natural' process.

The argument becomes a little more tentative with the modern-day penchant for 'finishing' or what Bruichladdich have decided to call aceing as this is intended, pure and simply, to impart specific flavours to the whisky.

I once ran a 'Walk through the woods' tasting using mainly Bowmore to show what effects finishing can have.
I started with the Bowmore 12 (A 'normal' bourbon cask, 12y whisky), then used the three finishes of the time; Dawn, Duisk & Darkest. One finished in a Port cask, one in a Claret cask and the other in sherry.

The difference was quite amazing.

We recently had a discussion on this over at WWW
(E150 is caramel for colouring)

http://www.whiskywhiskywhisky.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=268&t=2848

Ok, I just wrote a message in my Introduction topic, I did not see this topic before. Very interesting. Until today, I that the colour of whiskies were part of the "natural identity" of the final product. And I used to prefer coloured whiskies. Thanks for these informations.

Just a question : how can a customer be guaranteed that the whisky he is buying was made without colouring added ? I think this is not indicated on the bottle, is it ?

In Germany it must say on the label, but unfortunately this is not the law in most countries.

It's a matter of experience and guess work, but if in doubt, assume the worst.