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Originally Casks were used to just store whisky and the property of whisky to improve with age could only be appreciated by those who bought and stocked large amounts of casks. Scientific maturation only began in the 19th century.
The oak wood is used for casks that are used for aging and distilleries may own thousands of casks. Scotland has few sources of wood (during the infamous Clearances, reluctant clansmen were displaced by the simple expedient of the laird burning the wooden roof beam of their houses) and most wood is imported. With the depletion of forests in England, the Whisky manufacturers had to look elsewhere. In those days it was trendy for the English upper classes to consume sherry and empty sherry casks were available in plenty. Not only were these cheap (which is what may have attracted them to the Scots in the first place) they also imparted a rich flavour to the spirits which were aged in them. As sherry consumption decreased, sherry casks were replaced with casks that had been used to age Bourbon.
And that's how air, water, earth and fire transform into the "water of life" you can find at a store near you. Just like a fine wine, a single malt whisky is formed by a lot of different influences, like the kind of water at the distillery, the shape of the pot stills, the type of wood that is used for maturation and the time that the spirit stays in the barrel.
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