Generally, French oak is thought to impart a subtler influence and smoother texture, which is nice most of the time, while American oak is bigger on vanilla flavour and astringent tannins.

Why French oak barrels are so expensive. An curved arrow pointing right. X LinkedIn Copy Link. The letter F. Chris Snyder and Amelia Kosciulek. 2024-05-21T18:32:28Z An curved ...

The first Bomberger's PFG (short for Precision Fine Grain) is finished in barrels made of fine-grained French oak from Tronçais, Allier, Nevers, and Vosges — the staves of which were air-dried ...

But there is no doubt that this whiskey would have tasted very different if it was aged in Chinkapin or mizunara oak instead of French oak—and who knows, those could be on the A. Smith Bowman ...

Devlin, on the other hand, focuses more on French oak at Ballentine Vineyards—though he also has a place for the use of American oak. “It’s really about wine style,” he says.