Bourbon is always matured in virgin American oak barrels or casks; casks that have never held any other spirit in them before. This means the cask and wood influence is massive in bourbon. Scotch on the other hand, uses casks that have held something else before. It’s almost as if the casks have been conditioned for us and had a chance to get rid of some of those strong tannin oak flavours, which helps our distillate to come through more. It also means that these casks have lovely sweet vanilla and toffee notes that work beautifully with the sweet character in the prevalent Speyside whiskies in our blends. With Chivas Extra 13 Bourbon Cask, a portion of our Chivas blend is matured in ex-bourbon casks for the whole 13 years. This is not to make it taste like bourbon – it’s to really emphasise those sweet and honeyed flavours already present within the distillate.