After ten years of aging, the whiskey is finished in fine grain French oak barrels. These barrels were air-dried outdoors for two or more years allowing the natural fungi (moss) on the barrels to grow which ultimately releases more vanillin and reduces tannic astringency. Appreciated for its complexity and undeniable quality, common descriptors of French oak can include sweet wood, toasted almonds, grilled meat, cinnamon, cigar box and mocha. The structure tends to build mid-palate due to the fire bending techniques that penetrate the toast deep into the inner stave.