Question about aging in my 2L oak barrel

[IamMatt]

Quick one, I got a 2L oak barrel for Christmas but I'm wondering if I would be better off exchanging it for a 1L?  Anybody know of any info positive or negative?  The obvious one is that I would have to buy less bourbon for each "experiment," but I'm more concerned with whether results would be better with one size or the other.

 

Also if there are folks who age whiskey regularly, I'd love to chat (privately if you prefer) about what I really have to do to clean it, store it between uses, etc. 

 

Thanks!

[Old Hippie]

My understanding is that the barrel serves two purposes. Most importantly it imparts flavor and color as the distillate soaks into and out of the wood. It also provides oxidation which smooths out the whiskey.  "Angel's Share" provides the head space that is needed for this. I would try a batch at less than full in the 2L barrel and rotate the barrel a quarter turn occasionally and see what you get. BTW this is a total guess on my part as I have no practical experience in this.