What is a Valinch?

A valinch is usually used when tasting whisky directly in the warehouse. This device, which looks like a tool, is usually the only way to try the whisky straight from the barrel. But how does the Valinch work and how do you use it?

A Valinch is a relatively long pipe, typically made of copper, which is used to extract small amounts of whisky from a cask . The valinch must even be quite long so that whisky can also be removed from barrels with a low level (due to the evaporation caused by the Angels’ Share). So that the whisky barrels can be checked regularly by the Master Blender , each barrel has a so-called bunghole. The bunghole is only closed with a wooden cork and can be removed relatively easily. The name Valinch is derived from the French word ‘avaler’ (swallow).

How does the Valinch work?

In principle, a Valinch works exactly like a whisky pipette. Just on a slightly larger scale. To get whisky from the barrel, the Valinch is held in the whisky barrel. On the upper side of the Valinch is a hole on which you can now hold your finger. This creates a vacuum and you can remove the Valinch filled with whisky from the barrel. The natural whisky (non-chill-filtered and uncolored) can then be placed in a nosing glass and tasted.

Especially at some warehouse tastings in Scottish distilleries, visitors also come into contact with the Valinch and can use it to take some whisky out of the barrel. In some distilleries there is even an offer for visitors to tap their own whisky with a valinch from a whisky barrel and take it home as a special souvenir. A single cask whisky in cask strength, which was also unfiltered and not colored , is a wonderful reminder of a visit to a distillery.