Introduction
In a trilogy of responsa from the spring of 1948, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein responds to Rabbi Pinchas Teitz regarding the permissibility of drinking blended whiskey that may have had had wine blended in to them (אגרות משה, יורה דעה סב-סד).1 What goes entirely unspecified is the origin/type of whiskey. Is it Scotch whisky? Could it have been American or Irish whiskey, or perhaps Canadian whisky? Unclear, but it really doesn’t matter, since Rabbi Moshe Feinstein’s discussion of this topic would apply equally to any and all whiskies in the world that may have had wine blended into them.
Rabbi Niehaus’ Attempt at Specifying the Whiskey Discussed by Rabbi Feinstein
In his Sherry Casks book, Rabbi Akiva Niehaus discusses some potential routes for permitting Scotch whisky that had been held in casks that had previously contained Sherry,2 including one of them being this trilogy of Rabbi Feinstein’s responsa mentioned above.3 However, Rabbi Niehaus makes a peculiar claim, specifying the origin of the whiskey under discussion. Rabbi Niehaus claims that “Rav Moshe was not referring to Scotch; rather, he was referring to whiskey (perhaps Canadian or American) into which a small amount of wine (less than 2½%) was added.” Without any support, Rabbi Niehaus claims that “Rav Moshe’s heter does not apply to Scotch”, even though this very may well be Scotch that was under discussion.
Growth of Scotch in America
In the post-war era, American output of whiskey decreased,4 so why would Rabbi Teitz have brought up whiskey at this time? Perhaps, it’s because another whisky was growing rapidly: “During the post-war era, the industry started to see the emergence of the USA as the main market for Scotch whisky as the product took on fashion-drink status. With a flourishing market across the Atlantic, the industry entered its real take-off phase – a phase that was to propel it into the ranks of the leading international spirits of choice for drinkers around the world. Demand for Scotch whisky grew annually at close to double-digit percentages in the three decades after the end of the war up to 1970.”5
Likely Scotch
It would see that the change going on in the American whiskey scene was the increase in Scotch whisky entering the consumptive habits of Americans. And it’s no secret that Scotch whisky has a robust history of blending (see, for instance, the 1948 advertisement for blended Scotch whiskey above), so it’s not only not unlikely that Rabbi Teitz and Rabbi Feinstein were referring to blended Scotch, but actually quite likely that it was precisely what they were discussing.
Notes:
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, ספר אגרות משה: יורה דעה, vol. 2 (New York: Rabbi M. Feinstein, 1959), 103-110.↩
2. Rabbi Akiva Niehaus, Sherry Casks: A Halachic Perspective, 2nd ed. (Chicago: Chicago Community Kollel, 2012), 57-74. ↩
3. Niehaus, Sherry Casks, 57. ↩
4. Herman P. Eberharter, “Statement of Hon. Herman P. Eberharter, A Representative in Congress from the State of Pennsylvania” in Bonding Period on Distilled Spirits: Hearing Before the Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Eighty-fourth Congress, First Session, on H.R. 5367. a Bill to Amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 So As To Authorize the Determination of Tax on Distilled Spirits When They Are Withdrawn From Internal Revenue Bonded Warehouse Without Regard to the Date of Original Entry for Deposit – July 26, 1955 (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1955), 8.↩
5. Grant E. Gordon, “Marketing Scotch Whisky”, in Whisky: Technology, Production and Marketing, ed. Inge Russell (Amsterdam & Boston: Academic Press, 2003), 315.↩
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I am a world recognised expert in Single Malt Whisky. I count as friends some of the world’s most famous names in the Whisky world.
I read your article and I would like to make some comments, if I may.
I have not come to argue halacha but simply to state some historical facts.
You wrote “since Rabbi Moshe Feinstein’s discussion of this topic would apply equally to any and all whiskies in the world that may have had wine blended into them”.
In the 1940s, it was not the practice in the Scotch Whisky Industry (and would have been frowned upon) to add any wine to their casks.
Sherry casks were common (although Ex-Bourbon barrels were slowly being introduced after the newly introduced US regulations of the 1930s mandating the use of new charred barrels only for maturing Bourbon).
However, Sherry casks used in Scotland at that time were Ex-Transport casks from Spain. These were new casks, toasted and used to transport matured sherry from Spain to UK, which was the centre of the Sherry industry at that time. After the wine had been fully drained out in the UK and made its way up to Scotland, it had been subject to the elements and was more or less dry of Sherry. It must be pointed out that these casks were not used for their wine flavour but simply as a cheap convenient container to age Whisky. Sherry Transport casks were often used up to 4-5 times before beings discarded. Almost all casks used to mature grain whisky in Scotland were old Refill casks where flavour influence of the original contents had long since dissipated. Any new casks introduced to the system were vatted with the many other old Refill casks and any residual wine flavour would have been blended out.
Whisky historians like my dear friend, Charles MaClean, will tell you that wine flavour was simply not “a thing” in Scotland at that time and they would have had no reason to add wine as this would have been seen as a detrimental flavour.
One last note on Scotch Whisky. There was no such thing as Single Malt Whisky as a unique product in its own right until the 1960s. Pure Malt Whisky (as it was called then) was not bottled and sold in any large quantities outside of Scotland. Therefore, we can say with confidence, that the Rav Moshe’s teshuva is not talking about Single Malt Whisky (which might prove important) but exclusively, the only whisk(e)y which was commercially available at the time, namely “Blended” Whisk(e)y, either Scotch, Irish Whiskey, American Whiskey or Canadian Whiskey.
It was however, common practice to add additives, including wine, other fruit juices, honey, maple, or anything sweet to whiskey in North America to hide the many imperfections. Even today, the US Federal regulations are that it is permissible to add additives to any whiskey which is not labelled “Bourbon” or /and “Straight”. In Canada, it is permissible to add up to 2.5% of additives including wine.
Now, one could argue that Rav Teitz was being lazy with his definition when he said, “wine was added” and really meant the Sherry wine which was left over in the cask when they filled it with cleric o/ new make spirit in Scotland. However, in my opinion, this is highly unlikely and highly unlikely that he would have been suspicious of Scotch Whisky. Therefore, we can say with confidence that Rav Teitz was almost definitely talking about whiskies where it was known that it was the practice to pour wine into the vatting as flavour. That is, North American Whiskey.
Now I wish to get back to Single Malts. Spain took back its Sherry industry in 1986 by introducing laws to restrict bottling of Sherry in Spain, banning casks of sherry for export. So, over night the Sherry Transport cask became a thing of the past. The Scottish Whisky Industry began to use Bourbon barrels almost exclusively. After a few years, Single Malt Whisky drinkers in particular began to notice the difference in flavour of their favourite dram, as these Bourbon barrels had a dominant influence of American Oak char and Bourbon. (Honey, vanilla, yellow fruits, toffee, soft spices), a flavour profile different to Ex-Sherry casks.
So began the Scottish Whisky Industry’s obsession with fresh wet Sherry casks which they now custom order from Spain for their special Sherry Cask and Sherry Cask Finish editions which continues unabated today. Single Malt Whisky matured or finished in First-Fill Sherry casks convey dominant flavours if raisins, dates, figs, prunes, dark fruits, chocolate etc, flavour notes which its clear come directly from the fresh wine which inhabited the cask previously.