smokinjoe Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 As always Nancy, thanks for your detailed reply. So interesting to hear of MGP barrels spending time in HH rickhouses. Never heard mention of those being rested there. Do you know the back story of how/why they got there? Also, with the barrels that popped their bungs, was that because the fluid pushed them out, i.e. more than 53 Gallons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiskeyBlender Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 45 minutes ago, smokinjoe said: As always Nancy, thanks for your detailed reply. So interesting to hear of MGP barrels spending time in HH rickhouses. Never heard mention of those being rested there. Do you know the back story of how/why they got there? Also, with the barrels that popped their bungs, was that because the fluid pushed them out, i.e. more than 53 Gallons? Joe, that isn't as uncommon as one might think for MGP barrels or other sourced barrels to spend time elsewhere for their maturation, depending upon who buys them when they're young, and where they arrange for the maturation to develop. These particular barrels were bought by Jos. Magnus, and unfortunately I can't divulge who owned them before that or a whole lot more about the history of them (I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you! lol). I do my best to be transparent about production processes and the like whenever possible, but on some things I'm under NDA, so I don't want to get into legal trouble, as I'm sure you can understand. At any rate, interestingly enough, when we transferred these barrels to D.C., fortunately they weren't so far gone on the flabbiness that we couldn't counteract it. The proof was still quite low even after being submitted to more rigorous maturation conditions, but I was okay with that. It just meant I didn't have to add water to the batches, or at least, very little. As for my free-lance master blender colleague whose distillery client's bungs popped out, yes, the watered-down whiskey actually did push the bungs out, so that whiskey was actually spilling out of the casks. I'll have to ask her about this to be certain, but I suspect these were either 60 or even 92 gallon barrels, and not the 53's that we use for bourbon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mako254 Posted December 20, 2017 Author Share Posted December 20, 2017 Got a 10 yr 110 proof BM single in a sample swap. This bottle is on par with the smooth ambler singles. Will be buying more. Thanks to all the folks that are far more knowledgeable than me for taking time to post. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifford Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 On 12/13/2017 at 5:22 PM, WhiskeyBlender said: Sorry Smokinjoe, I've been meaning to get around to elaborating on this, but I'm just now finding some time to do it. So, with MGP, given the fact that the warehouses are concrete and are generally cool and damp, there isn't a lot of diurnal variation in temperature, but rather a seasonal variation. The proof will often go down in these barrels, so it will go from the entry proof of 120, and will fall a little bit every year. The MGP barrels I was telling you about that were matured at Heaven Hill fell very quickly over the course of 7, 8, and 9 years, so much so that some of them actually became a little flabby, meaning that they lost so much alcohol that they became a little like brown water. Fortunately, flabbiness doesn't occur that much in the U.S., given our general warmer, drier maturation conditions this side of the Big Pond. For that to happen, the humidity usually has to be a 95% plus on a regular basis. I have a colleague in Germany whose distillery clients aged their whisky in a cave, where the humidity was 95% plus. The whisky in the barrels not only dropped alcohol %, they actually GAINED water, so much so that the bungs popped off! At any rate, I actually don't mind for the proof to drop somewhat over time, whether it be an MGP bourbon or other stock, because it means that I just have to add that much less water, if any at all. Water, even though it is natural, is still considered an additive, and the less of it I have to use, the better. Also, it makes the bourbon a little rounder on the palate than it might ordinarily be. Hello N. I have a Joseph Magnus Single Barrel Cask Strength finished in PX Sherry Casks. 49.55 ABV. Store Pick. Only 162 bottled. Can't find much info except what is on the label. Can you elaborate and also tell me about the Joseph Magnus Single Barrel Cask Strength Bourbon Finished in Oloroso Sherry Casks - 59.96% ABV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiskeyBlender Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 3 hours ago, Clifford said: Hello N. I have a Joseph Magnus Single Barrel Cask Strength finished in PX Sherry Casks. 49.55 ABV. Store Pick. Only 162 bottled. Can't find much info except what is on the label. Can you elaborate and also tell me about the Joseph Magnus Single Barrel Cask Strength Bourbon Finished in Oloroso Sherry Casks - 59.96% ABV? Hey Clifford, actually, I was not involved in that project. I only come in about once a month or so to look after the official distillery whiskeys. It would have been Matt Witzig who put that private store pick together. I have to say I don't know what barrel they picked, nor have I tasted it. Please give some feedback on it! Cheers, N. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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