Abstract
Toasting is a key step in the barrel-making process. It plays an important role in the breakdown of oak wood compounds and thus influences the chemical composition and organoleptic properties of wines and brandies. However, the effect of toasting on distilled spirit quality has not yet been extensively studied. The objective of this study was therefore to study the impact of toasting on cognac eaux-de-vie by characterising the eaux-de-vie sensorially after 12 months of ageing. Eight eaux-de-vie aged in barrels with 8 different toasts were studied. The 8 toasts represented 4 different temperatures (low, medium, medium plus and high) and two toasting lengths for each temperature (one so-called “normal” and the other “slow”). Sensory analysis was carried out on these eaux-de-vie through several tests. First, a sorting test showed the differences between the samples and then training was carried out on previously chosen descriptors in order to build a sensory profile and perform a ranking test. The study was realised for two alcohol levels: 60 % (v/v), which is the alcohol level of eaux-de-vie in barrels, and 40 % (v/v), which is the alcohol level of a commercial cognac. This approach demonstrated that barrel toasting generally leads to significant sensorial differences in eaux-de-vie during ageing. These differences are greater between a lightly and a highly toasted barrel. This study is a first step in the characterisation of cognac eaux-de-vie aged in barrels made with different toasts.
Highlights
For many years, wood has been used extensively in cooperage for the manufacture of barrels
As far as the gustatory aspect is concerned, differences between the different barrel toasts were less pronounced, except for the high toasts which formed a group at 40 % (v/v) and differed from the other types of toasting. These results show that aged Cognac eaux-de-vie can be distinguished by type of toasting of their barrel
It showed the difficulty in tasting at a high alcohol level, as even with training, it was too difficult to study eaux-de-vie sensorially at the alcohol level found during ageing (60 % v/v)
Summary
Wood has been used extensively in cooperage for the manufacture of barrels. The aim of our study was to perform a sensory characterisation of Cognac eaux-de-vie aged for 12 months in barrels which had been subjected to different toasting processes. This ageing duration was a limitation of the study; it should be noted that this initial preliminary study was performed for one year in order to determine the impacts of barrel toasting and with view to conducting further long-term studies which will align with the industrial practice of three years. In order to represent all the basic toasts found in cooperage, eight types were chosen
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