Speyside Cooperage

Had a visit to the Speyside cooperage today to see how the casks are made and repaired.
The cooperage supplies and tests the casks for the majority of the distilleries in Speyside.

The trade of making casks or barrels goes back to before the Romans came over. It was always been a highly skilled job and to this day it is a 4 year apprentiship to become a qualified cooper.

The casks are shipped over from America flat packed with the tops, bottoms and hoops removed. The American casks are smaller than the Hogshead casks that are used by the distilleries. As a result they will only get 4 Hogshead casks from 5 American bourbon casks.

The coopers start by choosing the staves they are going to use and construct one end of the cask, called the shuttlecock stage as this what it looks like. It is then steamed to allow the wood to soften to allow it to be bent to fit the hoops on the other end to form the cask.

The lids are then fitted and the bung hole created. The casks are then pressure tested and only if it passes is the cooper paid.

The coopers here at the Speyside Cooperage are paid per cask created and so the work is non stop.

The photo show a cask being rolled back from the steam process to allow the hoops to be fitted and then the tops.