Overaged Bourbon

[Bourbon Boiler]

As I'm starting to play around with aging my own whiskeys, I'm reading a lot of warnings about over-aging bourbon due to the high surface area / volume ratio of small barrels. While this makes perfect sense, it occured to me that I'm not sure I've ever sampled a whiskey that I thought was in the barrel for too long. In fact, the BTEC double barrel trials may be the best whiskey I've ever tasted, and I've heard others refer to those as "drinking oak".

Granted, no one intentionally over-ages anything, as it would add expense, and reduce output in addition to being an inferior quality. However, I'm haven't convinced myself that a bourbon can taste over-aged.

I don't want to lose a super-majority of the liquid to the angels, but I think I'm going to want to keep aging the juice as long as I can. I will do periodic tasting and will keep some small samples, so I will eventually run out regardless.

The reason for my post is that I would like a list of bourbons that others might consider "overaged". I'd like to try those as I start to play to see if I come to the same conclusions.

[jburlowski]

If its MM, they (MM) would say anything more than around five years.

[sailor22]

Some I have seen described as overaged more than a few times;

Pappy 23
Vintage 23 Rye
Pichard's Double Barrel
Elija Craig 18
Black Maple Hill 21
Evan Willams 23
Hirsch 21 Rye
Michters Single Barrel 10yr
Some Willett single barrel picks that are 16 and older.
Noah's Mill
I'm sure there qre some I forgotten.

Not everyone agrees of course. In fact a few of those are on my favorites list.

[ethangsmith]

As I'm starting to play around with aging my own whiskeys, I'm reading a lot of warnings about over-aging bourbon due to the high surface area / volume ratio of small barrels. While this makes perfect sense, it occured to me that I'm not sure I've ever sampled a whiskey that I thought was in the barrel for too long. In fact, the BTEC double barrel trials may be the best whiskey I've ever tasted, and I've heard others refer to those as "drinking oak".

Granted, no one intentionally over-ages anything, as it would add expense, and reduce output in addition to being an inferior quality. However, I'm haven't convinced myself that a bourbon can taste over-aged.

I don't want to lose a super-majority of the liquid to the angels, but I think I'm going to want to keep aging the juice as long as I can. I will do periodic tasting and will keep some small samples, so I will eventually run out regardless.

The reason for my post is that I would like a list of bourbons that others might consider "overaged". I'd like to try those as I start to play to see if I come to the same conclusions.

Where are you buying your barrels to age your whiskey? I'm going to start doing this and I need a good supplier of non-varnished barrels.

[Bourbon Boiler]

Where are you buying your barrels to age your whiskey? I'm going to start doing this and I need a good supplier of non-varnished barrels.

I have a few inquiries out there. I'm actually buying a couple for a friend as well, and trying to negotiate better deals than listed prices, or at a minimum better than standard shipping costs. I'll keep you posted.

[Bourbon Boiler]

Where are you buying your barrels to age your whiskey? I'm going to start doing this and I need a good supplier of non-varnished barrels.

I'm also open to recomendations from other SBers as well.

[p_elliott]

This is where my wife got the one she gave me for my birthday last year. I don't know if the prices are competitive or not.

http://www.oakbarrelsltd.com/

[bourbonv]

I am not a big fan of small barrel aging. You get a lot of tannins from the wood, but not a lot of the nice caramel and vanilla flavors you get from a full sized barrel. I believe, but I am not sure because I have never seen a used stave from a small barrel, that the red layer is also much smaller in the small staves and as a result there is not as much caramel and vanilla flavor in the wood. Has anybody taken a small barrel apart to look at the red Layer?

Mike Veach

[sutton]

This is where my wife got the one she gave me for my birthday last year. I don't know if the prices are competitive or not.

http://www.oakbarrelsltd.com/

I make wine at home and am familiar with the various toast levels used for wine barrels (medium, medium+, heavy). Are these equivalent to whiskey barrel char levels (say, #2, 3, and 4), or are "char" levels heavier than what one sees for wine aging?

[White Dog]

I make wine at home and am familiar with the various toast levels used for wine barrels (medium, medium+, heavy). Are these equivalent to whiskey barrel char levels (say, #2, 3, and 4), or are "char" levels heavier than what one sees for wine aging?

I could be wrong, but it's my understanding that the toasting levels in wine barrels, even "heavy toast," is much lighter than actual charring.