Aroma profile of oak extracts from barrels used in the aging of rum

Abstract

Oak chips from six lots of barrels of different origin: three from American, former Yugoslavia and Soviet Union, and three of unknown origin, were summit to maceration with hydro alcoholic solution 55% v/v ethanol. Quantitative descriptive analysis for sensory evaluation was made with eight descriptors: “oaky”, “vanilla”, “coconut”, “cedar”, “clove”, “spicy”, “herbaceous” and “caramel”, and the intensity was rated on a scale of zero to ten, with a score of zero indicating that the descriptor was not perceived. A principal component analysis was run in order to classify the macerates according to their aroma profile. Results shown that “oaky”, “vanilla”, “coconut”, “cedar” had the higher rates and “clove”, “spicy”, “herbaceous” and “caramel” a less intense perceptions. PCA classified macerates in four groups: former ex Yugoslavian and two of unknown origin in a first one, American in a second group, ex Soviet Union in a third one, and finally one of unknown origin in a fourth group.