Did you know some old-school sherry cask whiskies once had a secret Spanish ingredient?

Tuesday, 06 October 2026 at 15:01

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Anyone who has tasted an old sherry whisky from the seventies or eighties knows some of those whiskies can be markedly different from modern bottlings. Dark, syrupy, rich with raisins, caramel, and dried fruit.

That character is often credited entirely to magnificent old sherry casks. But there was sometimes something else at play too—a concoction called paxarette. It wasn’t simply poured into the whisky, but it came very close.

What is paxarette and how does it affect the taste of whisky?

Paxarette, also known as pajarete, hails from southern Spain. It was a very sweet, wine-like liquid made in part from concentrated grape must and fortified wine.

Think of something dark and intense in flavor—raisins, burnt sugar, treacle, and caramelized fruit. That’s exactly the kind of profile fans of heavily sherried whisky are unlikely to object to. Scottish whisky producers figured this out long ago and leaned heavily on these casks.

How did paxarette end up in the whisky world?

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, sherry casks were vitally important to the Scotch whisky industry. Producers discovered that whisky matured in these casks took on an appealing dark color and a rich, layered flavor.

But there was a problem. Good sherry casks weren’t available in unlimited supply, and older casks lost more of their influence with each fill. Instead of retiring such a cask, producers found a solution: give it a serious boost with paxarette. And the treatment was quite involved.

A small amount of paxarette was added to a used cask. The cask could then be pressurized, forcing the liquid into the wood. Industry technical notes mention roughly half a liter per hogshead and about a liter per butt, followed by a short period under pressure.

After that, whisky could go back in. In effect, a tired sherry cask was given a second lease on life.

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Did old sherry whisky taste different because of this?

Paxarette was used on a large scale for many years. As a result, it’s very possible that part of the hallmark character we now associate with old sherry whisky didn’t come solely from the cask itself. The stuff in the casks may well have played a role too.

Whisky historian and journalist Dave Broom even wrote that virtually every distillery or bottler used to keep a supply of paxarette on hand. When an empty sherry cask seemed to offer too little color or character, it could be treated again. There are even stories of people visiting distilleries around Christmas to pick up paxarette for their Christmas puddings.

At the end of the 1980s, the rules around Scotch whisky changed. The treatment came to be viewed as a way of adding extra flavor to whisky. That meant paxarette no longer fit within the regulations for Scotch whisky, and the technique disappeared from Scottish production.

Paxarette never completely vanished

Here’s where the story takes a fun turn. Paxarette is largely gone from Scotland, but not from the rest of the world. Producers outside Scotland are once again experimenting with techniques that closely resemble the old paxarette treatment. The reason is essentially the same as a century ago: good sherry casks are expensive and scarce.

Discover more tidbits in this Did you know hub.

FAQ

What is paxarette?
Paxarette, also known as pajarete, is a very sweet, wine-like liquid from southern Spain. It has intense flavors including raisins, treacle, burnt sugar, and caramelized fruit.
Why was paxarette used in whisky?
Scottish whisky producers used paxarette to revive old, less active sherry casks. The liquid was forced into the wood so the cask could once again impart more color and flavor to the whisky.
Why isn’t paxarette used for Scotch whisky anymore?
At the end of the 1980s, the rules changed. Treating casks with paxarette was deemed a way of adding extra flavor to whisky, which no longer fit within Scotch whisky regulations.