It is often read that certain aged wines or liqueurs are stored in fine oak barrels.
One of the important characteristics of oak is the ability to release tannins useful for the conservation of wine; moreover, the tannins pass from the cask to the wine, modifying its aromas in a marked way, especially if the cask is new. The final result, in fact, depends very much not only on the wood used, but also on the previous contents of the cask. For example, the barrels used for the production of whiskey are generally assigned to the production of bourbon or sherry.
