A Powerful Storm Downed a 1,000 Year Old Tree – Here’s How an Irish Whiskey Brand and a Kentucky Cooper Intend to Give it New Life
A storm in Ireland downed a 1,000 year-old tree and a whiskey brand intends to give it new life. (Photo: Paul Mayall/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)
On Monday, the Daily Mirror reported that a 1,000 year-old Irish oak tree with a 10-meter circumference was brought down by a powerful storm system, Storm Elin, which could have been the end for the historic tree. Meath’s Boann Distillery and the Kentucky Barrel cooperage joined forces to salvage the oak and turn it into barrels.
Peter Cooney of Boann Distillery claimed that Irish oak casks are “extremely rare.” When he heard about the fallen tree, he saw an opportunity to age the distillery’s Preston’s pot still Irish whiskey in it as a nod to the Irish whiskeys of the past.
“The idea was first mooted six years ago after I told Arthur Preston about our plans to revive the Preston’s Whiskey brand, using an old whiskey recipe, called a mashbill, and dating back to the 19th century,” Cooney explained to the Daily Mirror.
He claimed he struck a deal with Preston exchanging casks for access to an oak tree on the property. The tree previously stood on a farm in Kilmessan, County Meath. As fortune would have it, the enormous tree fell during Storm Elen and Cooney received a call to take a look.
The oak will be harvested and shipped to France where it will be turned into staves and air-dried for two years before being transferred to Kentucky Barrel cooperage in Kildare.
Boann, like many whiskey brands, often uses American white oak which is in short supply these days.
In September, American Congress introduced a bill with rare bipartisan backing, called the White Oak Resilience Act, meant to preserve the future of this species of tree. Due to the bourbon boom and global demand for white oak casks, stocks of these trees are rapidly dwindling.
Not only is Cooney’s choice to use this Irish oak tree a nod to the heritage of Irish whiskey-making, it is a sustainable one.
“With this venture we will revive traditional whiskey cask crafting in Ireland using Irish oak from a tree that stood for over 1,000 years, so we are very excited about it,” Cooney claimed.
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