I've done the home brew beer thing for a few years and have always wanted to give distilled spirits (bourbon and scotch) a try. Problem is there are no un-aged spirits to be found around here except for moonshine (the legal variety). Sure aging corn whiskey in an oak barrel would be a hoot - or would that be a hoot! Hoot!.. but not bourbon or scotch for sure. So with a little research I found two sources for table top stills and grain blends for bourbon to make my own un-aged bourbon (as my wife rolls her eyes). Yep - guilty. Multiple hobby syndrome.
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What an excellent gift!! That is a very cool wife you have there. Looking forward to how this progresses.Comment
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TheCountofQ she pays attention to things that are important to me ... this is a good thing ... and something we can all learn from.Comment
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So, did a little taste test at the end of the first week in the cask .... this is definitely aging. It's no longer a clear, unaged rye ..... the highland notes from the "Scotch essence" are there, as well as the beginning of some oaky flavors. It needs a lot more time in the cask, for sure. Still not something I want to drink, but I can see, and taste, the changes.
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Okay .... it's been 11 weeks that my little experiment has been going on. I bottled the whiskey on Friday night. I thought I would share the outcome with everyone.
So ... the liquor is now a beautiful caramel color .... like a good whiskey should be. The 3 liter barrel resulted in about 2.5 liters of whiskey after the Angel's share. I would say that we are at a real cask strength of about 120 proof. The first taste is strong ... but has a decidedly sweet, vanilla taste at the front as it hits my tongue. As it finishes, there's a lot of spice ... peppery even .... I can smell the oak for sure ... maybe that is because I'm a BBQ guy because no one else who tasted it tonight detected oak
After the first full strength taste, we all added a bit of water .... the front end of the whiskey is complex, notes of vanilla, smoke, sugar, molasses ... as it finishes, we are all getting oak, pepper, vanilla, a lot of heat, and a very smooth bit of hay.
All three of us that tried this as I bottled it said we would be happy to pay $50 a bottle for this whiskey ... amazing, considering that I paid $10 for 1.75 liters of the rotgut that I started with.
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Awesome! Lots of fun.Comment
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That is soooooo coooool!
I can't believe I've never heard of doing this. But I am definitely going to get with the program! My only problem is going to be finding the unaged whisky myself (yes, whisky, not whiskey
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That sounds great! I have a 2liter barrel and now I need to find unaged liquor to give that a try. I am currently at week 2 with a manhattan mix in mine. I used ~2/3 old grandad bonded, ~1/3 sweet vermouth, 30 dashes angostura bitters, and 30 dashes peychaud bitters. I've also considered aging light rum or silver tequila.Comment
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I'm assuming you can re-use the barrel. Have you started another batch?Comment
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Can you leave it, serve it from the barrel? Or would the Barrel start leaking due to lost moisture?Comment
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TheCountofQ you can use the barrel 3 times, give or take, before it ends up neutral. I'm running down to the store in a little bit to pick up some cheap bourbon and start the next batch.
Pirate Scott you could leave it in the barrel, I imagine. I wouldn't, though, because it will continue to age. Also, I filtered mine through cheese cloth as I bottled it. And discovered small piece of wood in the whiskey.Comment
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