Behind the scenes at North Star Spirits
Today’s job: take delivery of Caol Ila new make spirit and fill some Palo Cortado and Oloroso sherry casks.
Lovely. Looking forward to that.
First, however, we need the tanker.
Any Sign of Him?
There’s a particular kind of work involved in waiting for a delivery. You look out the door. Check your phone. Do something else for thirty seconds. Look out the door again.
“Any sign?”
“Naw.”
Good. That’s that meeting concluded.
You don’t want to start anything too involved because the tanker will arrive the second you do. Equally, standing at the door doesn’t appear to make it arrive any quicker, despite my considerable commitment to the technique.
Eventually, the tanker appears.
Right. Kettle on.
The driver’s brought us a tanker of Caol Ila. The least we can do is offer the man a coffee.
An Important Metal Thing
With the driver supplied, we get everything ready. The IBC is earthed, and there’s a metal attachment to connect.
I’ve forgotten what it’s called. It has a proper name, obviously, but for the purposes of this blog it’s “the metal thing”. This is why nobody asks me to write the equipment manual.
Everything connected and ready, we let gravity get on with filling the IBC.
This takes about twenty-five minutes.
Not long enough to go and achieve anything substantial. More than long enough to stand watching it and say, “Aye, that’s filling,” to someone who can clearly see that it is.
There’s no rushing it. Gravity has been doing this considerably longer than I have and seems unlikely to take suggestions.
We check on the driver.
Coffee alright?
Good man.
The Bit We’ve Been Waiting For
Once the spirit is ready, we get on with filling the casks: Caol Ila new make into Palo Cortado and Oloroso sherry wood.
This is the bit I love.
For all the waiting about, moving things and trying to remember what bits of equipment are called, there’s something properly satisfying about filling a cask. You’re putting something away that you’ll keep coming back to, wondering how it’s getting on.
I’m already looking forward to the first samples.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to give you a paragraph of elaborate tasting notes today. We’ve only just filled the things. Let them settle in before we start accusing them of tasting like a leather armchair full of Christmas cake.
For now, the job is to get the spirit into the wood and the casks put away.
Then leave them alone.
That last part is easier written than done.
With everything filled, there’s a chance to stand back and appreciate the day’s work. The tanker arrived, the Caol Ila is in its new accommodation, and we’ve got some rather interesting casks to keep an eye on.
A productive day at North Star.
Anyone fancy a coffee?
