Why Oak?

[cowdery]

Rick Wasmund is doing some interesting things to malt whiskey with fruitwoods. You can find our more here.

[Squash]

This seems interesting. Have you (or anyone) tried it?

[cowdery]

I've tried it. It is ... interesting.

[Squash]

I spoke with Mr. Wasmund today and he stated that there are different batch numbers. So if the one you tried is from two years ago, or last year, it is not the same as the current bottling, and, he said, not as good.

Has anyone tried the newest release?

It is not yet available in Northern Indiana.

[callmeox]

Stu is a big fan of Wasmunds...I'm sure that he would love to chime in. :cool:

[Stones]

Thinking outside of the box (or inside the barrel ) - If the main barrel was constructed of white oak would it be feasible for a large block of other charred type wood to be loosely floated within the bourbon to flavour it differently? :skep:

[Squash]

That's what Wasmund's is doing, but using small pieces of wood rather than one large block. Mr. Wasmund described it like steeping tea. I am trying to get ahold of some of this stuff.

[cowdery]

When you think about it, barrel aging is a form of infusion. Spirits have long been flavored via infusion, originally to mask the off flavors of low proof distillate. Of course, you can flavor whiskey differently using different woods and other substances. The question becomes, why would you want to? Bourbon is not a tabula rasa, it is a very specific thing.