Staid Spirits Get Shaken Up With Aging in Uncommon Wood

If you’re a fan of barrel-aged spirit, the value of oak cannot be overstated. For centuries, liquor makers have been laying their liquid down in casks of Quercus, a thick-trunked genus of tree with dozens of species spread out across worlds Old and New. But the time-tested wooden cask is rolling into an era of innovation. From the cane fields of Oahu to the vineyards of Cognac, distillers are suddenly trying on additional sorts of cooperage. Some unexpected flavors are forming in the process.

Many types of wood are suitable for liquid storage. So why is it that oak has monopolized the medium? At first, it was merely a matter of convenience: Cognac producers of the 1700s needed containers to transport their treasure to increasingly thirsty markets in England and Holland. Oak was abundant in the forests of southern France, and its staves were relatively easy to bend into barrel form. Yet the tight grain of the wood still afforded a dependable barrier to leakage.