Smoked whiskey

[oke&coke]

Darek, I've also got a bottle of Triple Smoke in my cabinet. Good stuff. Not an everyday pour for me but great when I want something different. I'm interested in the hawaiian woods you put on your list and how they faired in your experiments.

[WhiskeyTaichou]

The Hawaiian woods were really interesting. Since I am in Tennessee my fear is it would be tough for me to get enough to do a full production whiskey, or I would end up with a ridiculously expensive whiskey. The Kiawe is similar to mesquite. The Ohia is a little milder. The guava is sweet like most fruit woods, and tastes a little like pear wood to me. The avocado is pretty unusual. It taste slightly nutty like almond wood yet slightly citrusy like lemon wood. Overall I liked all of them all and would use them in a whiskey. A blend of avacodo with alder and mulberry was a pretty good tasting whiskey. I have been experimenting with directly injecting smoke into the column of the still to condense with the distillate. It goes through a water bath first so nothing will ignite. This would allow me to use a lot less wood and have more control over the final character. If I could make it work beyond on a tiny rotovap scale I might be able to use these woods.

Check out the pics of the Hawaiian woods here:
http://altwhiskeys.com/smoke/avocado2.JPG
http://altwhiskeys.com/smoke/guava.JPG
http://altwhiskeys.com/smoke/kiawe.JPG
http://altwhiskeys.com/smoke/ohia.JPG

Darek, I've also got a bottle of Triple Smoke in my cabinet. Good stuff. Not an everyday pour for me but great when I want something different. I'm interested in the hawaiian woods you put on your list and how they faired in your experiments.

[StraightNoChaser]

You could smoke the whiskey with used whiskey barrels.

*INCEPTION*

Bwahhahaha. I like this guy.

[timd]

I'd love to see what Magnolia would do... What about Banana trees - or palms?

You mentioned walnut & peanut shells, but what about pecan shells? There's an Austin, Tx, based Rum (Pecan Street) that uses pecan shells in the barrel for aging, and it's results in a very "whiskey-like" Rum. Quite enjoyable.

I also really like Pine (toxic, though?) and the smell of burning pine needles - lots of smoke and could be a good "additive" if not a full source of smoke/burn.

[tmckenzie]

I would think you would get some toxic stuff from the pine tar if you use pine. The pecan shell aged rum was good? I would think it may be bitter. Ever ate pecans that had a little shell stuck in the meat? Bitter is not the word. I have not had the pleasure of trying the smoked stuff From Corsair, but need to get some. We have some 50 ppm malt aging that is looking good.

[WhiskeyTaichou]

Agreed, you should not use woods you would never use in other foods. so evergreen trees like pine are a no no as they can be toxic. This other biggies are you should never use lumber scraps as they may have been treated with chemicals, and if there is mold growing on the wood you can smell when burned it can be quite toxic.

When not lurking on SB I like to hang out at the smoking meat forums, and here is there list of who to stay away from:
Types of wood that is unsuitable or even poisonous when used for grilling. Don't use any wood from conifer trees, such as PINE, FIR, SPRUCE, REDWOOD, CEDAR, CYPRESS, etc. Also ELM, EUCALYPTUS, SASSAFRAS, SYCAMORE and LIQUID AMBER wood is unsuitable for smoking.
This is a bummer as Cedar and Sassafras are two of my favorite smoked whiskeys in our experiments at our distillery.

I would think you would get some toxic stuff from the pine tar if you use pine. The pecan shell aged rum was good? I would think it may be bitter. Ever ate pecans that had a little shell stuck in the meat? Bitter is not the word. I have not had the pleasure of trying the smoked stuff From Corsair, but need to get some. We have some 50 ppm malt aging that is looking good.

[WhiskeyTaichou]

300 years ago all beer and whiskey were smoked. It was not until the invention of indirect malting in the steam age that beer, and therefore whiskeys were smoke free. And there are records of people using all kinds of things to smoke their malts besides wood: coal, corn cobs, peanut shells, hay, etc. Hay was popular as it was so mild. Some herbs were also burned in with the main fuel source for luck. We can only imagine if they used sage what a strong smelling whiskey that would have been.

I have certainly seen pecan shells used in smoking meats and cheese. I need to do some research on magnolia, as it is used in Chinese medicine, so there may be some reactive substance in the wood and bark. I do love magnolia trees and we have plenty of them in the South. So thanks, I can't believe I forgot that one. I don't see a lot of banana trees in Tennessee or Kentucky. I need to research that one and palm trees.

I'd love to see what Magnolia would do... What about Banana trees - or palms?

You mentioned walnut & peanut shells, but what about pecan shells? There's an Austin, Tx, based Rum (Pecan Street) that uses pecan shells in the barrel for aging, and it's results in a very "whiskey-like" Rum. Quite enjoyable.

I also really like Pine (toxic, though?) and the smell of burning pine needles - lots of smoke and could be a good "additive" if not a full source of smoke/burn.