by cowdery » Fri Oct 06, 2006 12:08 am
Masonry warehouses are often heat-cycled. They don't stay at the same temperature year round. They are heated and then alllowed to cool before being heated again, to simulate a natural cycle.
People with masonry warehouses heat-cycle for two reasons. One, because they can, due to their superior insulation. Two, because they don't get as much of the natural cycling, also due to their superior insulation.
You will find most masonry warehouses in cities. They are masonry for security more than any other reason. The walls of a steel clad warehouse are just thin corrugated steel. You can break in with a pair of tin snips.
In the city, warehouses also have to be built close together and close to other buildings, due to the cost of land. In the country, they can be built on hill tops, exposed to plenty of sun, with lots of land around them so they get good air circulation.
It's no coincidence that the first use of heat cycling was at what is now Woodford Reserve which, although it is in the country, is in a river valley where it's very humid, they don't get all day sun, and the air doesn't move much. Contrast that with the Heaven Hill, Barton and Maker's Mark warehouses (the ones in Loretto, not the ones at the distillery).