New Oak

New oak casks, also referred to as virgin oak, are newly coopered barrels that have not previously been used to age or store any other beer, wine or spirits. The casks will be toasted, or in some cases charred, with different levels of fire-treatment bringing out different flavours from the wood.

The oak types used in cask making are mostly American, European (primarily French) and Japanese, however their application in rum maturation is limited by requirements from elsewhere. Japanese oak, for example, is already rare and demands from the whisky industry make them hard to acquire, whereas French oak is more abundant but is mostly funnelled into the country's massive wine and brandy production.

Due to their use being a legal requirement in the production of bourbon and rye whiskey in the US, new American white oak casks are the most numerous of this type but, equally, are the most difficult for other distillers to acquire. This has also driven down the use of new oak by spirits industries elsewhere as it is cheaper for them to buy and refill the barrels that American distillers have already used. Despite this, the use of virgin oak has gradually increased in the 21st century.

As new oak produces very active casks that provide prominent and fast-developing oak-forward flavours, they are mostly confined to use by distillers and independent bottlers in cooler climates. However, some early experimentation with tropical virgin oak maturation was conducted by the likes of Foursquare, Mount Gay and Worthy Park.