)
Quercus II Alba
The second bottle in the Quercus series picks up oak from North America. The American white oak has played an important role in several previously mentioned bottlings from Box and here it is in focus.
Quercus is a series where we explore the flavours that different oaks species and geographical regions can bare influence to the whisky. The first series was Quercus I Robur which went into depth with the European forest scene, Quercus robur. Number two in the series is the American white oak, Quercus alba.
Since prohibiton, Quercus alba has dominated the world’s whisky industry when a law was enforced that American whiskey may only be stored in new barrels. As a result, large quantities of ex-bourbon barrels were released and sold on to Scotland. Quercus alba is common in eastern and central North America and very common in the wine and whisky industry. Quercus alba contains a lower proportion of tannins and a higher amount of lactones, giving it the discreet coconut notes that are very characteristic of whisky.
Quercus II Alba consists of 100% unpeated whisky matured in traditional bourbon barrels for up to 5.1 years. After that, the whisky has been finished for up to almost three years in 40 and 96 liter casks of new Quercus alba.