angels' share
Cask's invisible tithe
Angels' share is the portion of wine or spirits that evaporates during barrel aging—typically two to four percent per year.
The poetic term imagines celestial beings claiming their due from the cask.
Distillers and winemakers accept this loss as the cost of developing complex flavors over time.
After twenty years in oak, the angels' share had claimed nearly half the whiskey.
- single maltUnblended Scotch whisky
- oak barrelsHardwood containers for spirits
- staveBarrel's wooden rib
- distillationPurification via vaporization
- cooperageBarrel-making trade
evaporation · fermentation · maturation · aging process · humidity · warehouse storage · vapor pressure · ullage · anthropomorphism · air currents · folklore · barrel aging · aging · condensation · diffusion · bottling · liquid gold · tradition
angel, angels, angelic, angelical, angelically, archangel, archangels, share, shares