Gary,
I am starting this new thread here because we were getting too far away from the subject in the Library. You mentioned aging whiskey in charred barrels and Scotch whisky. I want to continue that line of thought here.
When I was at United Distillers, my ultimate boss was Nicholas Morgan, the head of the archives in Edinburgh. I had a chance to here him discuss Scotch whisky history at a presentation to the U.D. North America people. He points out that until the 1830's or so Scotch whisky would be unaged product that would often be flavored with herbs and such - more akin to gin than whisky as we know it today. At that point a little light went off in my head and I realized that aging of whiskey originated in North America and went back across the ocean to Scotland. The reason for this development here instead of in Britain is simply taxes! The excise tax was collected in the Highlands in the 18th and 19th centuries without a break. There was no excise tax in the United States from 1817 to 1861. Americans could experiment with aging whiskey and loss of product it causes without it costing them tax money. A question I never had answered was when did a bonding period start in for Scottish distilleries? That would be an indicator as to when they started to age their product. I never received an answer because the answer probably would not be appreciated by the powers to be at U.D. who saw bourbon as the little brother of Scotch who always immitated but never matched the older brother, Scotch Whisky.
Mike Veach