How Carlos Yanes is determined to change how spirits are aged
Any connoisseur of spirits or wine understands the importance of aging. Not just for the length of time, but how the aging takes place. In the case of the finer brands of alcohol and vino, the gold standard is aging in an oak barrel. The problem with that, says Carlos Yanes, is that oak barrels are becoming prohibitively expensive as demand increases and forests dwindle.
“The interaction of certain species of wood contribute to three very relevant aspects of any alcoholic beverage – color, aroma, and taste,” says Yanes, CEO of Miami-based OIS & Associates. “The interaction of these three elements is definitely the main reason why, at the end of the day, we love or hate any alcoholic beverage.”
The problem is that only certain subspecies of wood provide the best interaction with fermenting alcohol – among them oak coming from a specific forest in France. Other oak comes from Missouri and Minnesota in the U.S. – but like the French oak, the supplies are limited.
“The simple equation in Mother Nature is that one oak tree, produced at the end of probably 80 or 100 years, can produce just two or three barrels of 60 gallons,” says Yanes, “and they use those three just for one or two times, that’s it. With our technology, the same tree can produce the equivalent of one thousand 60-gallon barrels.”
The technology that OIS uses, for which it enjoys the exclusive global license, is something that Yanes calls an “infusion spiral.” Simply put, it is a corkscrew-like spiral of wood derived from oak – or from Spanish Cedar, Sugar Maple, or Amburana from the Amazon – which is suspended in a barrel of wine, spirits or beer. After about six weeks, the flavor of the wood is fully imparted.
“Our technology is another way to transport all these properties [of taste, smell, and color], says Yanes. And there is a concomitant increase in efficiency, because of the increased surface contact between the spiraled wood and the alcoholic beverage. “The surface of a barrel is boring, because it’s flat,” he says. “If you have the spiral right, there is a maximum exposure. And there is no necessity to do this for 12 or 24 months.” With the spiral, the same aging effect takes just three months.
As with any revolutionary change to a tried-and-true process, the alcoholic beverage industry has resisted the spiral assault on its traditional practices. “The big issue here is the haters of change. There are those who hate change in this industry, and they don’t like to change,” says Yanes. “It’s like a religion.”
In order to advance what Yanes calls the inevitable evolution of the beverage industry, he has sponsored several taste tests, in particular for beer brands distributed by ABInBev, the U.S.-Belgian-Brazilian multinational that is the largest brewer in the world. He has had less success with the makers of scotch whiskey and bourbon, who would rather turn to barrels of wood made from the Amburana tree of northern Bolivia.
Undeterred, Yanes – who has been pushing the spiral infusion technology for more than two decades – has cut distribution deals in Mexico, Europe, Africa, India, and Australia. Among his clients are Quilmes in Argentina (run by ABinBev), CCU in Chile, and breweries in Spain, Portugal, and Germany. “Lemke in Germany in particular, they love this technology right now… They are the new generation.”
