marshall9779 Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 I picked up 5 L of rye whiskey white dog at 110 proof from my local distillery, Twin Valley Distillers, over the weekend. I filled with that just after dumping the double oaked Dant. I would like to let this batch go to about 6 months but we will see. I will probably sample monthly at least initially. Got a little overzealous on the fill and had to take a little out. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearmoon247 Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 What's the projected plan for length of aging the new make? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall9779 Posted September 22, 2020 Author Share Posted September 22, 2020 1 hour ago, clearmoon247 said: What's the projected plan for length of aging the new make? 6 months. Just hoping it will still pick up some good color after what the first batch took. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall9779 Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 Tasted at one month last night. Picked up just a little color and maybe a little sweetness but that’s about it so far. It has almost no ethanol on the nose or palate. It’s spicy as it is 65% rye I believe. Has some fruity/ floral characteristics kinda similar to Old Forester rye. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 you might try giving the barrel a little shake about once a week. A little agitation will accelerate the interaction with the wood. Also if you have a space heater, heat up the barrel once a week or so. Let us know how it turns out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall9779 Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 Ok. Might try the agitation. I do rotate it slightly from side to side every couple days to keep the top staves wet. A little Leary of putting right next to direct heat since I’m already going to lose a lot to evaporation and feel like that might speed it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomLamb Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 Would you mind sharing where you got the barrel from? I'm looking at doing a similar experiment. Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall9779 Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 I got it as a gift from Sofia’s Findings. I would go through a more reputable place and use thousandoaksbarrels.com. I would also recommend getting it not varnished. They also have cleaning stuff and replacement parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomLamb Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 Thanks marshall, will check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall9779 Posted November 23, 2020 Author Share Posted November 23, 2020 Tasted at the two month mark over the weekend. It’s finally picking up some color. Has picked up a little caramel sweetness. No oak yet so that might be a good sign that I can let it go a while. Still shooting for 6 months but we will see. Still super grain forward with rye spice but this has a lot of juicy fruit type flavor to it. Still drinks well below 110 proof. Will update in another month. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomLamb Posted November 26, 2020 Share Posted November 26, 2020 Just picked up a 1L barrel from Thousand Oak barrels. I already have a decanter full of solera bourbon. Going to transfer it over to the barrel and let the magic begin! Thanks for the tip marshall! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall9779 Posted November 27, 2020 Author Share Posted November 27, 2020 1 hour ago, PhantomLamb said: Just picked up a 1L barrel from Thousand Oak barrels. I already have a decanter full of solera bourbon. Going to transfer it over to the barrel and let the magic begin! Thanks for the tip marshall! Cool. Just make sure you get it swelled and sealed up first. Be prepared to loose a lot to evaporation on that small 1L. I think the longer you leave water in it first may help some and let the wood soak up water rather than whiskey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomLamb Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 14 hours ago, marshall9779 said: Cool. Just make sure you get it swelled and sealed up first. Be prepared to loose a lot to evaporation on that small 1L. I think the longer you leave water in it first may help some and let the wood soak up water rather than whiskey. Will do. They said that an instruction book is included as well so will try to follow those to the t. Trying to figure out how long of an aging period I should let it go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall9779 Posted November 28, 2020 Author Share Posted November 28, 2020 14 hours ago, PhantomLamb said: Will do. They said that an instruction book is included as well so will try to follow those to the t. Trying to figure out how long of an aging period I should let it go? Just taste it every couple weeks and take it out when you think it’s ready. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomLamb Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 Currently swelling/sealing the barrel. Poured in boiling water, going to let it sit for 5 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall9779 Posted December 2, 2020 Author Share Posted December 2, 2020 19 minutes ago, PhantomLamb said: Currently swelling/sealing the barrel. Poured in boiling water, going to let it sit for 5 days. Good deal. You should start a thread so we can follow your project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomLamb Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 7 hours ago, marshall9779 said: Good deal. You should start a thread so we can follow your project. Roger that, will get some pics to post maybe tomorrow. Thanks for putting me on to this man, this forum is the best. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Black Tot Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 Maybe put em in your garage if you have one, and park the car in it at night? Good for the car, and the engine heat will cycle the temp for no extra money. Or you can just move them in and outside every once in a while if you have a mud room or shed that's cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomLamb Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 10 hours ago, The Black Tot said: Maybe put em in your garage if you have one, and park the car in it at night? Good for the car, and the engine heat will cycle the temp for no extra money. Or you can just move them in and outside every once in a while if you have a mud room or shed that's cold. Might store it in my basement beside your stash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall9779 Posted December 22, 2020 Author Share Posted December 22, 2020 Had a sample last night at the 3 month mark. Maybe just a tad more color, still picking up some sweetness. Just a touch of caramel, and vanilla. This is turning into a sweet, fruity, spicy rye. I feel like it’s getting spicier. I wonder with the evaporation and proof probably going up if that’s getting amplified. Just a hint of oak at 3 months where my double oaked Dant is over oaked but it had already had 4 years or so in the barrel. I should be able to go a couple more months. I need to check the level and see how much I’ve lost. At some point I may have to compromise on how long I leave it in if I’ve lost too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomLamb Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 5 hours ago, marshall9779 said: Had a sample last night at the 3 month mark. Maybe just a tad more color, still picking up some sweetness. Just a touch of caramel, and vanilla. This is turning into a sweet, fruity, spicy rye. I feel like it’s getting spicier. I wonder with the evaporation and proof probably going up if that’s getting amplified. Just a hint of oak at 3 months where my double oaked Dant is over oaked but it had already had 4 years or so in the barrel. I should be able to go a couple more months. I need to check the level and see how much I’ve lost. At some point I may have to compromise on how long I leave it in if I’ve lost too much. I saw in the instructions they recommended not any more than 3 months. I'll be curious to see how much is lost as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall9779 Posted December 22, 2020 Author Share Posted December 22, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, PhantomLamb said: I saw in the instructions they recommended not any more than 3 months. I'll be curious to see how much is lost as well. It depends on how big the barrel is and how many times it has been used . Mine is a 5 L and already had bourbon in it previously for 3 months. Edited December 22, 2020 by marshall9779 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall9779 Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Decided I wanted to do vertical from this barrel. Pulled a bottle from my barrel at 4 months yesterday.Gonna pull another bottle at 5 and the rest at 6 months. Hopefully will have 2 bottles of the 6 month. Picking up some color, a lot of sweetness, and a little caramel with just a hint of oak on the finish. Very spicy and fruity. Wonder if the proof has gone up with the evaporation. Seems like it might have. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomLamb Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Cool! Keep us posted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall9779 Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 Don’t know if this is advisable or not but not sure why I didn’t of it until now. So my house is sitting at about 30% humidity right now with the cold dry weather. That is with a humidifier on my furnace but not sure how much it actually helps. With my house that dry I started thinking about how much evaporative loss I’m having. I remembered I have a big airtight container I had used as a humidor previously. The barrel fits minus the stand. I put it in there with a dish of distilled water to bring the humidity up. Will probably leave that in for a week or so to allow the wood to absorb a bunch. I will replace the dish with some 65% Bovedas humidity packs. Not sure how much loss this will save over the next almost two months that I plan on aging it but figured I would do it. Anyone have any comments on whether or not I should continue with this plan? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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