Our Product
QUALITY WHITE OAK
BOURBON BARRELS
We secure renewable white oak logs from all over the eastern U.S. We turn them into staves to produce 53-gallon barrels known throughout the industry for their quality. White oak has a much tighter cell structure than other woods, which allows our barrels to hold up for years without leaking and creating a slow, gentle interaction with the bourbon.
We char the insides of each barrel to provide the distinctive color and taste for some of the best-known bourbons in the world. It’s this char, which is our closely-guarded secret, that gives bourbon its distinctive amber color and woodsy flavor.
Kentucky is known as the best place to age bourbon because its cold winters and hot summers allow the charred oak barrels to alternately absorb and release the whiskey.
When the warehouse is hot, the whiskey expands and is forced into the porous oak where it meets natural sugars and tannins from the caramelized wood. When the warehouse cools, the whiskey is expelled.
This process reoccurs year after year—the length of time determined by each distillery and brand—until the whiskey turns into bourbon ready to meet the awaiting palate of consumers.
Staves
Our skilled craftsmen de-bark and quarter-saw the raw logs, cut them into staves and stack them so that air can move freely between them. The staves dry in our yards from six to eight months or longer. The drier the staves the more they soak up liquid. When it’s time for processing, we finish drying the staves in a kiln for seven to nine days. We target specific moisture content in the barrel to soak up the optimum amount of bourbon. We have eight kilns running 24 hours a day.
From there they go to the cooperage where they are planed, shaped and jointed by state-of-the art equipment and made ready for assembly into beautifully-crafted EBC bourbon barrels.
Stamped to indicate quality
Every barrel we sell is individually inspected. Our team is diligent about maintaining the highest quality standards for our barrels to ensure they produce the best bourbons in the world.
Reducing Waste
Instead of discarding them, our byproduct surplus wood, dust, and chips are provided to other industries such as Charcoal. 100% of the white oak is used in some recycled form.
A Renewable Resource
The American mixed temperate forests where white oak trees grow cover 53.8 million hectares, the largest contiguous forest in the world, according to the U.S. Forest Service. American oak forest area has steadily increased since 1980, and is currently at pre-1947 levels. Regrowth is an important sustainability measure for both public and private land owners.
White oaks are bountiful mast producers — some trees can produce between 2,000-7,000 acorns per year — serving as a substantial food source for wildlife such as blue jay, black bear and wild turkey. The tree’s bark is very flaky and has a lot of surface area. In fact, a study of the species in the Mid-Atlantic found that white oaks provide habitat for more than 500 species of moths and butterflies — more than any other woody plant in the region.
Our company supports white oak sustainable logging practices and white oak reforestation efforts to ensure this valuable economic resource can be enjoyed by succeeding generations.
The secret behind great bourbon?
It's Our People
Behind great bourbon are great barrels. Behind our barrels are great people. We’re always looking for compassionate, qualified new team members who share our vision and values of hard work, quality, and enthusiasm.
