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Controlling the extraction of oak compounds happens at several points in the barrel making process.  Cooking the wood changes the chemistry of the amino acids and wood sugars just as cooking food does - known as the Maillard reaction . Toasting wood properly requires the cooper to know exactly where the tree was grown, how it was seasoned or aged and what the barrels future contents will be.  So, there are many different recipes of time and temperature we refer to as "levels".  The choice of  toast level contributes specific structure (mouthfeel) and sweetness (flavor) outcomes which provide a complex benefit to the aromatic and flavor of the spirit. 

This toast offers spirits and cocktails high levels of the oak compounds Eugenol and 4-methyl-guaiacol which are responsible for the flavors and aromatics of clove and spice.  

*Natural oak firewood free from knots, sap and bark are used to make the Heavy toast level.  

This char offers spirits and cocktails high levels of 4-methyl-guaiacol and guaiacol which are responsible for the flavors and aromatics of spice and smoke.  

*Propane gas fire is used to make this traditional whiskey barrel Char.

This char offers spirits and cocktails high levels of guaiacol and furfural which are responsible for the flavors and aromatics of smoke and butterscotch.  

*Propane gas fire is used to make this traditional whiskey barrel Char.