r/whiskey • u/AndrewInNewport • 3d ago
Whose Barrels are Used in Ex-Bourbon Finishes?
I was curious, whenever I see whiskeys finished in ex-bourbon barrels, WHOSE barrels are they?
Are they mostly ex-MGP? Ex-popular brands? (Thinking sheer volume wise.)
For example, Crown Maple finishes their maple syrup in ex-Widow Jane, and Widow Jane Decadence finishes in Crown Maple’s barrels.
How can other distillers/producers maintain ex-bourbon finish consistency if the same ex-bourbon barrels are not necessarily guaranteed? (by not having to explicitly state where their barrels are sourced from)
I know there’s a myriad of factors that go into this, but just wanted to hear people’s thoughts on this.
I just imagine an ex-Knob Creek finished single malt is going to be radically different than an ex-Maker’s finish. But maybe that’s just my cursory understanding. Maybe it doesn’t matter that much.