jwperry Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 For father's day I bought myself one of those little mini, age booze at home barrels. I've really liked every Rum cask aged whiskey I've ever had. Has anyone ever seasoned one of these barrels with rum before aging whiskey? Mine will be 67oz. The rum I'm planning on using is Cruzan white aged rum. Why? Because I bought a 1.75L bottle for $9 and have no idea what to do with it since I can't make daiquiris (diabetic, so no sugar). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwperry Posted June 5, 2019 Author Share Posted June 5, 2019 Step 1 complete; rum added to barrel instead of water to give the staves some fluid and seal the barrel. I'm hoping this will help give the barrel extra rum flavor for when I add whiskey. I'm still trying to decide which whiskey to add in a couple weeks while the barrel seasons.Elijah Craig? (Current #3)Wild Turkey 101? (Current #2)Buffalo Trace? (Current #4)Wild Turkey 101 Rye? (current front runner)Jack Daniel's Single Barrel? (Wild Card) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcpfratn Posted June 9, 2019 Share Posted June 9, 2019 You might end up with some better tasting rum after using it to season the barrel for your whiskey finishing experiment. I’d probably try something like EW BIB as the whiskey to experiment with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwperry Posted June 10, 2019 Author Share Posted June 10, 2019 You might end up with some better tasting rum after using it to season the barrel for your whiskey finishing experiment. I’d probably try something like EW BIB as the whiskey to experiment with. My plan is to reuse it to season a few times; part of me regrets not grabbing a bottle of 151 to throw in to add some extra zip and keep the proof respectable after the Angel's share.I'm a fan of EW BIB, why the recommendation? My interest is peaked. I've semi-decided on Rare Breed, but I'm happy to try something 1/3 the cost... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcpfratn Posted June 10, 2019 Share Posted June 10, 2019 My plan is to reuse it to season a few times; part of me regrets not grabbing a bottle of 151 to throw in to add some extra zip and keep the proof respectable after the Angel's share.I'm a fan of EW BIB, why the recommendation? My interest is peaked. I've semi-decided on Rare Breed, but I'm happy to try something 1/3 the cost...Most of the other bourbons you have suggested are already well aged, more costly and great bourbons in their own right. EW BIB is cheap, and in my opinion, needs some more age anyway (I’m not a fan of it as a neat sipper). I don’t know if finishing it in rum will help or not, but those small barrels can add too much oak and char rather quickly from what I’ve read and heard, so I’d rather experiment with a cheaper bourbon that could use a bit more age anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwperry Posted June 10, 2019 Author Share Posted June 10, 2019 4 hours ago, lcpfratn said: Most of the other bourbons you have suggested are already well aged, more costly and great bourbons in their own right. EW BIB is cheap, and in my opinion, needs some more age anyway (I’m not a fan of it as a neat sipper). I don’t know if finishing it in rum will help or not, but those small barrels can add too much oak and char rather quickly from what I’ve read and heard, so I’d rather experiment with a cheaper bourbon that could use a bit more age anyway. Valid points all around. I have a few more weeks before I plan on decanting the rum to think about this. One of the reasons why I listed what I listed as I already have them in my bunker. EW BIB is a favorite pour of mine, but it is kind of my "bring a friends' house to forget" bottle, so I can never seem to keep them in the bunker. The more I think about it, the more I like it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwperry Posted June 14, 2019 Author Share Posted June 14, 2019 That was a white rum when it went in. The single barrel Cruzan had a little color, but this really absorbed color from the barrel. I'm going to leave this rum to put back in after the bourbon, them likely consume it too. I went with Elijah Craig instead of EW BIB. Walgreen's is running a sale right now, buy EC at regular price, get a free bottle of Federalist red wine($15.99 value). I've bought one combo every Friday for the last 5 weeks, so I have a small surplus of EC right now. I thought about adding a little ECBP to the mix to bring the proof up closer to AE Rye, but decided against it. I want something easily reproduced if I like it, and ECBP can be hard to find local. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richnimrod Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 25 minutes ago, jwperry said: That was a white rum when it went in. The single barrel Cruzan had a little color, but this really absorbed color from the barrel. I'm going to leave this rum to put back in after the bourbon, them likely consume it too. I went with Elijah Craig instead of EW BIB. Walgreen's is running a sale right now, buy EC at regular price, get a free bottle of Federalist red wine($15.99 value). I've bought one combo every Friday for the last 5 weeks, so I have a small surplus of EC right now. I thought about adding a little ECBP to the mix to bring the proof up closer to AE Rye, but decided against it. I want something easily reproduced if I like it, and ECBP can be hard to find local. I hope it turns out well, for ya', jwp! Be careful not to leave it in there too long. A fair bit of age already on the EC, for my taste buddies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwperry Posted June 14, 2019 Author Share Posted June 14, 2019 I hope it turns out well, for ya', jwp! Be careful not to leave it in there too long. A fair bit of age already on the EC, for my taste buddies.With how dark the rum got, in just 8 days, I'm targeting right at a week with this. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 I’m liking the way this is going. Looking forward to hearing about the next round. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwperry Posted June 16, 2019 Author Share Posted June 16, 2019 Figured since this was a FD gift, I should at least try the juice. No I couldn't wait for the PM, haha. It has rum, that makes me a pirate not a drunk. Anyway, the juice is good...to me. Not what I was after (AE Rye clone) but good. It has the same hints of rum sweetness as AE Rye, but lacks the spicy bite. I'm regretting not using the WT101 Rye or buying some KC Rye for this. Maybe for the next batch, I'm going to sip on this today, top off the usage with ECBP and decant on Tuesday as planned. I'll put the original rum back in and scout some KC Rye for cheap or put my stock of WT101 Rye in the barrel Tuesday night. Tasting notes:Sweet forward. I read about folks saying oily as a note and always thought that to be a flavor. Best way I can describe the texture of this is oily. Really sticks to the glass too. Normally AE Rye is spicy secondary, this is smooth. More smooth than EC normally is, for me without an ice cube. I don't get much in the way of oak or other caramel flavors I normally get from EC, this is just a smooth dram going down. This is where I think the rye or high rye bourbon would have come through. Overall, if I bought this in the store I'd enjoy the pour but likely not replace the bottle. We'll see if the flavors evolve over the rest of the day through decanting day. Here are a couple pics to compare color. LH bottle is ECBP, center is jwp EC rum finish, RH is EC small batch. IMO, this did not grab as much color as the white rum, but it's not like it was colorless to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwperry Posted June 16, 2019 Author Share Posted June 16, 2019 fwiw, as the day progressed, my opinion went from "enjoyable, would not buy again" to "highly recommend".That might be 8oz of it talking and me mixing in ECBP to compensate for my consumption though... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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