Abstract
The use of alternative types of wood has arisen for the aging of the Brandy de Jerez, on a pilot plant level. In particular, besides the use of American oak, two more types of oak have been studied, French oak and Spanish oak, allowed by the Technical File for the ID Brandy de Jerez, and chestnut, which, though it is not officially allowed, is a type of wood which had been traditionally used in the area for the aging of wines and distillates. All of them have been studied with different toasting levels: Intense toasting and medium toasting. The study of the total phenolic composition (TPI), chromatic characteristics, organic acids, and sensory analysis have proven that chestnut leads to distillates with a higher amount of phenolic compounds and coloring intensity than oak. This behavior is the opposite as regards the toasting of the wood. Among the different types of oak, Spanish oak produces aged distillates with a higher phenolic composition and a higher color intensity. Regarding tasting, the best-assessed samples were those aged with chestnut, French oak, and American oak, and the assessors preferred those who had used a medium toasting level to those with an intense level.
Highlights
According to the Technical File of the Geographic Indication «Brandy de Jerez» [1], Brandy deJerez is defined as a spirit with an alcoholic strength between 36% and 45% obtained from wine spirits and distillates aged in oak barrels of capacity under 1000l
Santa María, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz, Spain), following the aging system of Criaderas and Solera in use in the Jerez region. Though these regulations just state that the barrels need to be made of oak, the most widely used wood in the area is the American oak, though occasionally, it is possible to find some brandies aged in French oak barrels
The alcoholic strength of all studied samples is around 60% ABV, being slightly lower in the aged samples than in the initial ones. This decrease is more significant in those samples which were aged in CH wood, though it cannot be considered in any case that the difference is a significant one for a significance level of α = 0.05
Summary
According to the Technical File of the Geographic Indication «Brandy de Jerez» [1], Brandy deJerez is defined as a spirit with an alcoholic strength between 36% and 45% obtained from wine spirits and distillates aged in oak barrels of capacity under 1000l. Santa María, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz, Spain), following the aging system of Criaderas and Solera in use in the Jerez region. Though these regulations just state that the barrels need to be made of oak, the most widely used wood in the area is the American oak, though occasionally, it is possible to find some brandies aged in French oak barrels. During the aging process of spirits, physical-chemical processes where components of the distillates and compounds from the wood of the cask are involved take place [2,3,4,5]. All of them affect in a way or another the final organoleptic characteristics of the aged distillates
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