Barrel Like with other spirits, longer aging results in a more pronounced flavor. Traditional balsamic vinegar is aged in a series of wooden barrels. Since its invention in 1868, the pepper mash used to make Tabasco sauce is aged for three years in previously used oak whisky barrels. Beers are sometimes aged in barrels which were previously used for maturing wines or spirits. This is most common in darker beers such as stout, which is sometimes aged in oak barrels identical to those used for whisky. Whisky distiller Jameson notably purchases barrels used by Franciscan Well brewery for their Shandon Stout
Whisky long enough to have products sufficiently aged for sale, and only one of which was operating prior to 1975. Japan produces both single malt and blended whiskies. The base is a mash of malted barley, dried in kilns fired with a little peat (although less than what is used for some peated Scotch whiskies), and is distilled using the pot still method. Before 2000, Japanese whisky was primarily for the domestic market and exports were limited. Japanese whiskies such as Suntory and Nikka won many prestigious international awards between 2007 and 2014. Japanese whisky has earned a reputation for quality.