To Level Up Mediocre Whiskey, Add Vanilla Beans To The Bottle - Chowhound

Vanilla is a quintessential tasting note in whiskey primarily due to the complex interplay between the spirit and its maturation process in oak barrels. The vanilla aroma is attributed to vanillin, a compound derived from the lignin component of oak wood. As whiskey spends time in these barrels, it interacts with the wood, coaxing out the vanillin and infusing the whiskey with the characteristic sweet vanilla…