Premium Barrels. Exceptional Oak.
Premium Oak Barrels
A specialist barrel house supplying distillers and vintners with select French and American oak, from standard sizes to bespoke specifications.
Exceptional oak, by origin
Every barrel begins in the forest, not the cooperage. We work only with mature French and American oak: selected, split and seasoned the traditional way, long before a single stave is toasted.
French Oak
Drawn from the forests of Allier and Limousin, prized for centuries for their tight, straight grain. Every tree is at least a century old before it is felled. Root sections are split, never sawn, along the grain into six pieces, then cut into staves that preserve the wood’s natural strength and porosity, essential for a slow, even maturation.
American Oak
White oak, harvested from the Appalachian Mountains and the Midwest, where dense, slow-grown timber gives bourbon and rye whiskies their characteristic depth of vanilla and spice. As with our French oak, only trees of at least 100 years are selected, split by hand, and cut into straight-grained staves rather than machine-sawn.
Twenty-four months in the open air
Every stave is left to season outdoors for 24 months, exposed to sun, rain and frost. This natural weathering draws out harshness and lets the wood’s true character develop before a single barrel is raised. Toasting, the final stage, is what defines a barrel’s contribution to the spirit or wine it will hold, and is treated with the same patience throughout our range.
About Asuliem Barrels
Asuliem Barrels is a specialist supplier of premium oak barrels, serving distillers, vintners and craft producers across the United Kingdom and beyond. We work exclusively with mature French and American oak, selected for its grain, strength and suitability for slow, considered maturation.
Every barrel we supply is produced under ISO 22000:2018 certified food-safety management, by experienced coopers using traditional splitting and toasting methods, supported by rigorous quality control at every stage. The result is a barrel range built on consistency and craft: fully customisable in size, wood species and toast level, backed by a team that understands what distillers and winemakers actually need from their oak.
- Exceptional oak
- French and American oak only, hand-selected for grain and maturity.
- Bespoke craft
- Custom capacities, toast levels and finishes tailored to each order.
- Global delivery
- Worldwide shipping with dedicated UK-led account management.
22000
Certified food-safety standards. Independently audited and verified by IQNET and CQC. Registration CN00125F20746R0S/3300.
The collection
Every order starts with one choice: a newly built cask, or an expertly refurbished one carrying character from its previous life. Standard capacities from 3 litres to 500 litres, plus fully custom specifications.
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1
Choose your size
From 3 litre miniatures to 500 litre maturation barrels, or a fully bespoke capacity built to specification.
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2
Select toast level
Light, medium, medium-plus or heavy, matched to the spirit or wine you intend to mature.
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3
Confirm specification
We finalise wood species, hardware and finish before your barrels go into production.
Accurate toasting
Four toast levels, each suited to a different style of spirit or wine.
| Toast level | Characteristics | Best for ageing | Toasting process |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light | Spicy, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg | Apple cider, brandy, single malt whisky | Toasted over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes; inner surface reaches approximately 150°C, the colour of natural wood. |
| Medium | Vanilla, coffee, toffee, spice | Brandy, single malt whisky | Toasted over medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes; inner surface reaches approximately 200°C, the colour of almond milk sugar. |
| Medium Plus | Coconut, toasted oak, spice, nut, vanilla | Bourbon whiskey, most whiskies, rye whiskey | Toasted over medium heat for 35 to 45 minutes, with heat increased before the end; inner layer reaches approximately 225°C. |
| Heavy | Leather, smoky, woody | Bourbon whiskey, most whiskies, rye whiskey | Fired for 5 to 10 minutes until the inner wall chars for approximately 10 seconds, then extinguished with water; fine surface cracking is characteristic. |
New casks
Freshly coopered from mature American oak. No prior contents, no shortcuts, built to the same standard as everything else we supply.
Refurbished casks
Casks that already held something else, bourbon, cognac or red wine, before we prepare them for your spirit or wine. Each carries a trace of its past into what you mature next.
| Barrel | Previously held | Capacity | Wood species | Origin | Flavour contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bourbon Barrel | Bourbon | 200L | American white oak | United States | Toffee, vanilla, coconut |
| Cognac Barrel | Cognac | 225L, 270L, 300L, 350L | French oak | Cognac region, France | Gentle fruit, nuts, spice |
| STR Red Wine Barrel | Red wine | 225L | French oak | Europe | Fruit notes, vanilla, caramel |
Sherry cask finishes
For an additional finishing stage, our refurbished range also includes sherry casks, each carrying a different sweetness and character from Spain’s sherry bodegas:
Enquire about barrels
Bespoke sizes, toast levels and quotations are available on request.
Ask about barrels