Barrel-aged cocktails: A new trend?

The barrel-aged cocktail trend has yet to really take off in South Korea, but that did not deter bar B28 co-owner Mike Soldner from teaming up with major drinks business Diageo Korea to put them on the menu of B28’s new Seoul outlet.

According to Soldner, the barrel-aged cocktails should be ready within several months.

Essentially cocktails that are concocted and then put in small wooden barrels and aged for around six weeks, barrel-aged cocktails are, according to Soldner, “incredibly smooth.”

“Barrel aging marries the spirits,” said Soldner. “The sweetness is somehow accelerated.”

Since the cocktail is in “constant contact with the wood,” it results in a “very accelerated aging process” and “takes on a woodiness that is noticeable and remarkable, particularly in the martini.”

Soldner revealed that 4-liter charred American oak barrels would be used to create aged martinis, Manhattans and a Whisky Mac that will be sold at B28.

“If a pioneering bar like B28 kicks it off, then word will spread and it will satisfy the needs of consumers looking for something new. But when one takes the South Korean bar culture into consideration it looks like it might take more time to really catch on,” Diageo Korea brand manager Ma Hyung-min said of barrel-aged cocktails as a trend.

By Jean Oh (oh_jean@heraldcorp.com)