Mini Barrel Aging Project

[marshall9779]

2 hours ago, clearmoon247 said:

Do yourself a favor: go to the grocery store and grab a box of "Gulf Wax" from the canning or baking isle. If you have a heat gun,  rub the wax into the crack and melt it in place. Otherwise,  melt a small amount in a bowl and brush it into the crack liberally. Its paraffin wax, which is what Barrel Wax is.

Thanks for the tip.

[marshall9779]

On 7/16/2020 at 2:53 PM, clearmoon247 said:

Also, I recommend replacing the top Bung with one of these: https://www.widgetco.com/1-white-silicone-rubber-stoppers

 

Got a pair of these in today. No more weeping out of the bung. Thanks again for the tip.

[marshall9779]

Tasted today at 4 weeks. Little more oak on the nose. Maybe a touch more oak on the palate. The baked apple and caramel maybe amped just a tad more but not much. Still coming along. 

[clearmoon247]

How's the barrel doing at 1.5 Months?

[marshall9779]

9 hours ago, clearmoon247 said:

How's the barrel doing at 1.5 Months?

Gonna taste shortly and will post thoughts  tonight or tomorrow. 

[marshall9779]

It’s developed a little smokiness to it both in the nose and palate along with a little more sweetness. It’s starting to remind me of how young craft bourbons taste. Not overly so yet so gonna keep going since I’m hoping to try and get some of those stronger initial flavors like that out on this first batch.

[marshall9779]

Tasted at 8 weeks this past Saturday. The smokiness is not quite as prevalent. Definitely more oak. The sweetness has grown as well and counterbalances the oak. Would probably be too much oak if it was a dry finish and not as sweet.

[Kepler]

15 hours ago, marshall9779 said:

Tasted at 8 weeks this past Saturday. The smokiness is not quite as prevalent. Definitely more oak. The sweetness has grown as well and counterbalances the oak. Would probably be too much oak if it was a dry finish and not as sweet.

Is it getting close to time to dump it?

[marshall9779]

7 hours ago, Kepler said:

Is it getting close to time to dump it?

Yeah, my target is 3 months. Will taste again in a week and a half and see how she’s doing.

[Bob_Loblaw]

Well it’s almost September so I can no longer procrastinate on my Holiday cocktail or I’ll run out of time!
 

One Fresh split Vanilla Bean per bottle. Will probably go at least 8 weeks as it’s for a cocktail so I am not to concerned about over infusing. Plus the orange is already so powerful. Then into a 3L Barrel with vermouth. Have not decided if bitters will go in the barrel or be added to the finished bottles. I better buy the barrel now too so I can season/do a quick fill before the cocktail goes in. 
 

On the side you can see a 1.75 of BT that is also getting the treatment, although that one got three older beans that needed to be used up. 

looking for a good high quality vermouth if anyone has a recommendation. . . 

[clearmoon247]

17 minutes ago, Bob_Loblaw said:

Well it’s almost September so I can no longer procrastinate on my Holiday cocktail or I’ll run out of time!
 

One Fresh split Vanilla Bean per bottle. Will probably go at least 8 weeks as it’s for a cocktail so I am not to concerned about over infusing. Plus the orange is already so powerful. Then into a 3L Barrel with vermouth. Have not decided if bitters will go in the barrel or be added to the finished bottles. I better buy the barrel now too so I can season/do a quick fill before the cocktail goes in. 
 

On the side you can see a 1.75 of BT that is also getting the treatment, although that one got three older beans that needed to be used up. 

looking for a good high quality vermouth if anyone has a recommendation. . . 

 

First and foremost,  you are a madman and I love it! To answer your question,  Dolan or Sya vermouth are really nice. I use sya with a quality syrah to make my Yippee DIY-Yay blend.

 

Is it fair to say that the PHC is going to marry with the BT in the 3L barrel?

[flahute]

2 hours ago, Bob_Loblaw said:

Well it’s almost September so I can no longer procrastinate on my Holiday cocktail or I’ll run out of time!
 

One Fresh split Vanilla Bean per bottle. Will probably go at least 8 weeks as it’s for a cocktail so I am not to concerned about over infusing. Plus the orange is already so powerful. Then into a 3L Barrel with vermouth. Have not decided if bitters will go in the barrel or be added to the finished bottles. I better buy the barrel now too so I can season/do a quick fill before the cocktail goes in. 
 

On the side you can see a 1.75 of BT that is also getting the treatment, although that one got three older beans that needed to be used up. 

looking for a good high quality vermouth if anyone has a recommendation. . . 

Love it!

I was recently introduced to a new vermouth that is outstanding. Lustau Vermut. It's a sherry based vermouth from Spain. Absolutely killer in a negroni or boulevardier. There's another new (to me) one called Aixa Vino Vermouth - also from Spain. It's actually on the savory side so may not be a good fit but everyone should try it.

[Bob_Loblaw]

5 hours ago, clearmoon247 said:

 

Is it fair to say that the PHC is going to marry with the BT in the 3L barrel?

No, I should have been clearer. The BA cocktail will be a Vanilla-Orange Manhattan. Three bottles of PHC, one bottle of vermouth. Bitters at some point. All the online research says don’t put the bitters in the barrel, but I did it every time for the last 6-7 batches and never noticed an issue. 

 

The BT is just for drinking, regular cocktails etc. . .  I had a sample of vanilla infused BT from @0895 and it was freakin amazing neat. Actually to give due credit, I got the whole vanilla infusion idea from him in the first place. 

[Bob_Loblaw]

3 hours ago, flahute said:

Love it!

I was recently introduced to a new vermouth that is outstanding. Lustau Vermut. It's a sherry based vermouth from Spain. 

Thanks! I’ll look for this one. If not I’ve used Dolin before as suggested by Clearmoon with good results. 

[marshall9779]

Tasted at 10 weeks on Friday. Not too much different than 8 weeks other than definitely noticing more color. Will probably dump at 12 weeks depending on the next taste.

 

[clearmoon247]

1 hour ago, marshall9779 said:

Tasted at 10 weeks on Friday. Not too much different than 8 weeks other than definitely noticing more color. Will probably dump at 12 weeks depending on the next taste.

 

I've gotta say congrats on staying the course with this project. I would recommend figuring out what will go into the barrel when you finally dump it.

[PhantomLamb]

On 8/29/2020 at 5:42 PM, Bob_Loblaw said:

No, I should have been clearer. The BA cocktail will be a Vanilla-Orange Manhattan. Three bottles of PHC, one bottle of vermouth. Bitters at some point. All the online research says don’t put the bitters in the barrel, but I did it every time for the last 6-7 batches and never noticed an issue. 

 

The BT is just for drinking, regular cocktails etc. . .  I had a sample of vanilla infused BT from @0895 and it was freakin amazing neat. Actually to give due credit, I got the whole vanilla infusion idea from him in the first place. 

That’s an expensive and rare experiment you have going on. Hope it turns out well.

[Bob_Loblaw]

On 9/7/2020 at 4:14 PM, PhantomLamb said:

That’s an expensive and rare experiment you have going on. Hope it turns out well.

I think I mentioned previously, but not in the last post that the three bottles of PHC are owned by different people.  I am doing the blending and the other two guys will each get a full bottle of the final product back.

 

I do not recall ever filling my first barrel with any type of whiskey to season the barrel and just went right into cocktails with no adverse effects.  However,  the consensus seems to be the opposite and I am not interested in gambling with this particular batch.  

[marshall9779]

On 9/6/2020 at 10:51 PM, clearmoon247 said:

I've gotta say congrats on staying the course with this project. I would recommend figuring out what will go into the barrel when you finally dump it.

I got 5L of rye new make lined up from my local distillery. Should have it by end of next week and on hand for when I dump on the weekend of the 26th.

[clearmoon247]

50 minutes ago, marshall9779 said:

I got 5L of rye new make lined up from my local distillery. Should have it by end of next week and on hand for when I dump on the weekend of the 26th.

Holy crap that's awesome!

[marshall9779]

21 minutes ago, clearmoon247 said:

Holy crap that's awesome!

Thanks. Forgot to mention it will be at 110 proof.

[clearmoon247]

33 minutes ago, marshall9779 said:

Thanks. Forgot to mention it will be at 110 proof.

That is a really good proof

[Bob_Loblaw]

First dump into a newly seasoned 3L.  Figure if first fill always too oaky, may as well hide it in a cocktail.  
 

Will-be sampling the Vanilla PHC this weekend.

[marshall9779]

I tasted over the weekend and didn’t notice any improvement  so I dumped last night just shy of 3 months. Got about 4.25 L Of Double Oaked Dant so lost about 750 ml from the last time I topped off. I’m guessing 2-250 of that was from sampling. Love the color on it. I’ll start another post for batch #2.

[marshall9779]

After spending some time with the Double Oaked Dant this week it keeps getting better. It’s almost completely lost that young craft whiskey flavor. No smokiness. Im not sure if that’s due to some oxidation after being bottled or maybe the extractives are continuing to break down in the bottle. It’s definitely oaky but the sweetness balances it out nicely. It’s got caramel, stewed fruits and baking spices going. Tastes nothing like the original JWD that went in. Hoping it keeps getting better.