Aging Your Own.

[cowdery]

I spent some time with Chris Morris last week. I've known Chris for a long time and he has, over the years, developed an unparalleled knowledge of the science of whiskey-making. That includes, of course, maturation.

I absorbed only a very small part of what he told me (but I rolled tape). One thing that stuck, however, is that when aging a spirit in new, charred oak barrels, the color comes first, the flavor comes later, so "ooooh, it's getting dark," should be tempered with "the flavor takes more time."

We sampled a barrel that was only 6 months in wood. It didn't look much different than a 4-year-old, but it tasted like white dog.

[IronHead]

I had read that Chris Morris was doing a seminar on aging your own whiskey. I think it is/was at a local liquor store. I've noticed that more distilleries are releasing some version of their white dog for sale. Are there any unaged wheaters out there? I might have to purchase a hobby barrel if there are.

[Bourbon Geek]

I spent some time with Chris Morris last week. I've known Chris for a long time and he has, over the years, developed an unparalleled knowledge of the science of whiskey-making. That includes, of course, maturation.

I absorbed only a very small part of what he told me (but I rolled tape). One thing that stuck, however, is that when aging a spirit in new, charred oak barrels, the color comes first, the flavor comes later, so "ooooh, it's getting dark," should be tempered with "the flavor takes more time."

We sampled a barrel that was only 6 months in wood. It didn't look much different than a 4-year-old, but it tasted like white dog.

The color and carmel flavor both come from the red line, which is right behind the char ... so they are easily and quickly extracted.

We did an experiment once where we filled a new charred barrel with new make spirit, rolled it about 200 yards, and withdrew a comparison sample. Everyone could discern the color difference, with the unaided eye, between the original white dog and that which had been in the barrel for only a minute or two ... I was amazed ...

[callmeox]

I can see the neighbors rolling their eyes and elbowing each other with the "there's Dave taking his barrel out for a walk again" look on their faces.

[Josh]

I had read that Chris Morris was doing a seminar on aging your own whiskey. I think it is/was at a local liquor store. I've noticed that more distilleries are releasing some version of their white dog for sale. Are there any unaged wheaters out there? I might have to purchase a hobby barrel if there are.

They give samples of white dog on the current incarnation of the MM tour. I've heard that some members around here have been able to get some to take home. I had some last time I was there and it was really incredible stuff. So sweet and oily and delicious.

[jburlowski]

BT is also selling 375s of white dog at retail.

[IronHead]

BT is also selling 375s of white dog at retail.

I saw that. The 15 dollar price tag seems a little steep.

[IronHead]

Update: I contacted Maker's who replied that they cannot legally sell white dog. What I don't know is if they cannot legally sell white dog to me or if they cannot sell it to a licensed distributor, either. If not I assume that would have something to do with taxes.

[Rughi]

Update: I contacted Maker's who replied that they cannot legally sell white dog...

There are three stumbling blocks:

1. Does MM really want to sell it to you?
2. Does MM have a label that accurately states what is contained in the bottles? This is a big issue, as shepherding a new label through the process is time consuming.
3. In most circumstances, you would need to enlist a retailer and a distributor to receive and resell the spirits in order to satisfy the 3-tier system. Only a few places (DC is the only one off the top of my head) have combined retail/distribution licenses. Perhaps the MM gift shop could do this. Given your close proximity, it'd be worth a shot.

Best of luck. If you can make this work, I'm sure others would want to do it too. A few niche liquor stores would be happy to retail this, perhaps not many, but a few.

Roger

[Bourbon Geek]

Update: I contacted Maker's who replied that they cannot legally sell white dog. What I don't know is if they cannot legally sell white dog to me or if they cannot sell it to a licensed distributor, either. If not I assume that would have something to do with taxes.

They really oversimplified the issue. The main reason they cannot sell it to you is that they choose not to sell it at all. They actually do have a white dog product ... they only sell it to themselves so they can do tastings with it at the distillery, etc. If they wanted to sell white dog by the bottle, all they would need to do is get their KY distributor to list it and put it on the shelves for sale. Soooooo ... it's not really a legality issue, it's a choice.