In terms of flavour, we’ve seen Scotch get loud. Makers have embraced bold wine casks, powerful sherry butts and loads more in the pursuit of innovation. This chase only sped up in 2019 when the Scotch Whisky Association made changes to its technical file to allow a far wider range of cask types. While the overriding ‘rule’ was that practices and the end result must be kept ‘traditional’, makers rolled up their metaphoric sleeves in their quest for the new. We’ve seen Tequila, Mezcal, Agricole Rhum casks and more used in Scotch whisky’s maturation, along with a proliferation of wine barrels. We’ve seen releases matured in three, four… in some cases as many as seven, different types of wood. The objective? To engineer flavour and push boundaries, giving drinkers something they’ve never tried before.

But has this become a case of over-engineering flavour? For some, yes. In the pursuit of cask adventurism, the core character of the whisky had been lost. It had become hard to pick out the distillery character from all the oak influence. Then there was an argument that all these cask types could be used to hide flaws in the distillate. Dull whisky? Fermentation fault? Just shove it in a wild cask, pump up the flavour, and no-one will even notice.

It’s interesting then, that in tasting for The Scotch Whisky Report, I discovered a noticeable shift to quieter cask styles. Ex-bourbon and refill casks dominated. Distillery character was easy to find – as were notes clearly driven from grain, fermentation, and even distillation style. There were still some pronounced casks on the line-up, but even these felt more finessed than we’ve seen for some time. Why is it? And why now?

Read more: The Scotch Whisky Report 2024

There’s a debate about flavour fatigue. Could we all just be getting a bit bored of cask-forward flavour profiles? Could a shift to quieter casks and more distillate-driven spirits actually be an emerging trend in its own right?

Paul de Newton, general manager at Brighton whisky bar and independent bottler Cut Your Wolf Loose agrees that there’s been a slow shift. ‘I think that good ex-American cask whisky has a versatility that might be a little lacking in more sherried liquids,’ says de Newton. ‘There’s a beautiful honey note to many unpeated Scotches that you just can’t find in a wine-influenced whisky,’ he adds, giving Glen Spey and Glendullan as two examples of this. But while some makers are embracing quieter casks, it’s taking some time to filter down to what people are buying in the bar. ‘Unfortunately, dark liquids sell well,’ he says (Sherry and wine casks typically offer up more colour during maturation). ‘They’re more visually appealing to the heavily-marketed-to consumer and it’s hard to shift people’s bias on this.’

Skye-based distillery Torabhaig has made the shift to quieter casks in recent times. ‘We are moving out of red wine experimentation,’ says Neil Macleod Mathieson, whisky-maker at the distillery. It is not matching our expectation on the peated whisky and we’re changing all sherry barrels to butts to lessen the hit to our whisky.’ Macleod Mathieson says he’s keen to hone in on that distillery character unique to Torabhaig. ‘The quintessential difference between single malt distilleries is the size and shape of their stills and how we use them,’ he notes. ‘For this aspect of physics in distillation to come through and shine we need to not disguise it with heavier woody elements drawn from ageing rather than distillation.’ The barrier? ‘Marketing expectations,’ he says, echoing comments made by de Newton. ‘But we need to plough our own furrow!’

Not everyone is in agreement that we’re seeing a trend towards quieter casks. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, which scored 98 points with its Sensuous Opulence – a decadent sherry cask bottling – says there is still space for all cask styles. ‘Our proposition is all about offering a wide variety of flavour profiles for our members to enjoy and ensuring that we can provide a little bit of something for everyone,’ outlines Ed Furmston-Evans, Cask Warehouse Operations Planner at SMWS. ‘That’s why in our outturns you will see the big, boombastic sherry bombs dripping with wood character; sweet and full bourbon-influenced releases laced with vanilla; and distillate-forward releases spotlighting distillery character. One style is not better than any other, they all have their place and we aim to provide for all tastes.’

While The Glenturret – which notched up 97 points for its Prowess bottling – says it isn’t seeing a trend for quieter casks, it has committed to never finishing its releases. ‘We want lots of different options for our whiskies so we use lots of different types of casks to give us these options for the future,’ a spokesperson says.

Thom Smyth, general manager at London’s 3 Greek Street and The Vault whisky bar suggests that this shift towards more distillate-forward whiskies could simply be coming from a place of greater all-round consumer knowledge. ‘I think it is right that more people are less concerned about the age of the whisky but more about the distillery character,’ he says. There’s a demand to know more about the entire maturation process, suggests Smyth. Perhaps that’s it: distillate character is having a moment – but eventually, every aspect of Scotch whisky making and how it influences flavour will have its time in the sun as its fans delve even deeper into their understand of their favourite drams.