Stained, warped and terroir rich: the global and shockingly sustainable lives of wine barrels

Wood barrels circle the world and can be used for more than a century. They tell a story, but they're imperiled by tariffs

No one at Tucson's Hamilton Distillers knows exactly what wood the cognac barrels holding whiskey are made of.

Probably Spanish oak?" one employee ventures a guess. The age of the barrels is also a question mark. No one working here is old enough to vouch for that; the distillery believes they are anywhere from 100 to 125 years old, which is old in the grand scheme of barrels' lifespans, but not unusual. But it can say with certainty, using records of its vintages, that these barrels are on their fifth use - at least.