cowdery wrote:Scotch seems to get most of its flavor from the distillate itself. The barrel is mostly there to hold it while it oxidizes.
American straight whiskey is much more "about" the barrel flavors than scotch is.
I had not thought of it in that way, but it makes sense. The peaty smokey taste ain't coming from the barrel. Although, I do like some of the Scotchs that were finished off in a used Sherry or Port barrel. Still, even in those cases it isn't the barrel itself that is adding the flavor, but the previous contents.
As they say, live and learn.