Bourbon, sherry, STR and Double Oak at Annandale

By Meadow Lane · Updated on October 11, 2026

The cask name on an Annandale bottle helps you explore the range. Bourbon, sherry, STR and Double Oak refer to a different history or treatment of the oak. Combine that information with the choice of Man O’Words or Man O’Sword and the tasting notes of the individual bottling.

Fresh Bourbon and Refill Bourbon

An ex-bourbon cask previously contained bourbon. In the case of first fill or fresh fill, the cask is used for this whisky for the first time after its bourbon past. Refill means that the cask has previously been used for whisky. They are therefore not two different types of whisky base, but different stages in the use of a cask.

This is a useful distinction to make before purchase. For Fresh Bourbon, look at how the producer describes vanilla, sweetness and wood. For Refill Bourbon, compare how fruit, spices and the distillery style come through. The current product notes will give you more guidance than the cask name alone.

Oloroso Sherry

With an Oloroso edition, a cask that has been used with or conditioned with sherry plays a role in the maturation. In the current Meadow Lane selection, you will find Oloroso Sherry Butt. The product notes describe, among other things, stewed fruit, spices and creamy notes. Check separately whether you want the unpeated or peated edition: the name sherry does not tell you whether a whisky is smoky.

STR: Shaved, Toasted and Re-charred

STR stands for Shaved, Toasted and Re-charred. Annandale explains that its STR casks are former Burgundy red wine casks whose inner surface is carefully treated. Shaving, toasting and re-charring reactivate the wood, while some of the influence of the previous wine use is retained.

Therefore, STR is something more specific than the general designation red wine cask. For your choice, you can look at the combination of fruit, sweetness and wood spices in the product description. There is a Man O’Words STR without peat smoke and a Man O’Sword STR with the peated character of that series.

Double Oak: read the exact edition

Double Oak does not automatically mean that a Scotch whisky has matured in two different casks one after the other. Annandale describes a specific treatment of the wood by toasting for its Double Oaked ex-bourbon casks. The history and wood treatment of the chosen cask are relevant; the product information determines which maturation applies to a specific bottling.

Use Double Oak as a starting point for a comparison with the other bourbon variants. Look especially at structure, sweetness and spices. For the current unpeated edition, Annandale describes vanilla, peach and biscuit; the peated edition combines a richer fruit and caramel direction with smoke.

Make your comparison easy

First choose Man O’Words or Man O’Sword.
Compare two cask styles within that series.
Check the alcohol strength and the tasting notes of the specific bottle.
Choose the description that best matches your existing preference.

No cask name is a ranking of quality. For a gift, it helps more to know the recipient's taste than to choose the most special term on the label. If you want to discover multiple styles, check the current contents of the Annandale sample pack.