Barrel finishing at home
A while ago I made a post on the DramFull Facebook group on some data I found on the Islay distilleries, that can be found here.
A shorter while ago I sat drinking whisky with a friend and a few drinks later, the world was once again full of unexplored opportunities and good ideas. Whisky breeds genius I swear…
The next morning, after the bright lights of town faded into a mild handover, I was left with nothing less than a gloriously inane idea.
Ok some background – Earlier I was particularly struck by the wood policy of the distillers as of 2007:
| Ardbeg | Bowmore | Bruichladdich | Bunnahabhain | Caol Ila | Lagavulin | Laphroaig |
| Type of casks | 50% first fill bourbon (Jack Daniels) | 71% first fill American oak barrels | 65% first fill bourbon barrels | 90% first fill bourbon barrels | 100% second & third fill American oak | 99.5% third fill American oak hogsheads | 100% first fill bourbon, mainly ex Makers Mark air dried wood barrels | |
| 50% second fill bourbon | 15% remake American oak hogsheads | 25% first fill sherry hogsheads | 10% first fill & second fill sherry casks | 0.5% third fill sherry butts | ||||
| Very little sherry | 14% first fill sherry butts | Balance- rum & wine casks |
What? The heavy 3 aren’t filling into sherry anymore? (especially Laphroaig, which was so good in sherry) What happens down the road if you find yourself itching for a heavily peated heavily sherried beastie? You could always wait for a sherry finished release a la Distiller’s Edition, PX cask – or (cue inane idea) you could DIY…
1L, 3L, 5L barrels available here.
In fact this could work for whiskies you think are a little underaged as well, and need that extra time in a bourbon/whatever barrel. But first you would also need to know a thing or two about barrels.
Besides species of oak, which is a non-variable here, the insides of barrels are exposed to heat before first use and there are a range of char options used by cooperages.
It starts with a No.1 toast with little to no carbon formation, and goes all the way up to a No.7 heavy char with a good layer of char formation. The nomenclature varies, but the range is commensurate with length of exposure to heat. A No.1 toast could be done in seconds while a real heavy charring could take upwards of 3 minutes.
Sherry butts are toasted before use, while a bourbon barrel typically uses a No.4 char (40-60s exposure).
So we have our little barrel with a toast or No.4 char as the case may be, we’ll need to season it first. For that, we’ll need sherry or bourbon, 2 or 3 bottles worth, so let it be cheap stuff. Fill said cask – it should be quarter to half full and will thus require a quarter or half roll every other day or so, to fully season the insides.
Then we wait, but how long?
It is known that a smaller cask ages its contents quicker than a larger cask and thanks to the excellent information on this website, we have the following information:
El cheapo sherry is typically aged for about 3 years, and bottom shelf bourbon anywhere from 3 to 6, so we could use those numbers.
Assuming we get this far without losing patience or commitment, now’s the time to empty out the barrel and pour the good stuff in. For that you’ll want a cask strength whisky.
Now the downside to a small barrel is, if unwatched for too long, can age your whisky beyond its prime. So depending on the state of your whisky, the number of refills your little barrel has served, you would want to pick a suitable due date.
Sample your aging whisky every yearly equivalent, or as you feel the need to, and once deemed suitably finished – Bottle and enjoy!
An inane idea this may be but we are seriously considering this as a pet project, just for kicks, maybe dump some young cask strength Kilchoman for a sherry finish, why not?
Whiskyrific RSS
- Millburn 36 yo 1969 / 2005 Douglas Laing #DL2152 50% vs Glenburgie 40 yo 1963 / 2003 Signatory #4751 56.4%
- Ben Nevis 23 yo 1996 / 2019 Single Malts of Scotland for the Nectar #536 51.3% vs A Speyside Distillery 32 yo 1989 / 2022 Thompson Bros 51.4%
- Brora 22 yo 1972 / 1995 Rare Malts 61.1% vs Brora 22 yo 1972 / 1995 Rare Malts 58.7%
- Talimburg 19 yo 1986 / 2005 The Whisky Fair #1485 45.9% vs Talisker 20 yo 1981 / 2002 62%
- Caol Ila 12 yo Bulloch Lade for Zenith 43% vs Caol Ila 30 yo 1979 / 2010 Berry Bros #4604/5 55.6%
- Clynelish 29 yo 1965 Whyte & Whyte 52.1%
- Brora 21 yo 1982 / 2003 Signatory #416 58.4% vs Clynelish 27 yo 1982 / 2009 Synch Eli Daily Dram 46%
- Dornoch 5 yo 2017 / 2023 #46 ‘Jasper Broers’ 57.9% vs Shizuoka ‘private cask’ 2017 / 2022 #2017-108 61%
- Clynelish 26 yo 1993 / 2020 Carn Mor #11215 52.7% vs Bowmore 17 yo 2004 /2021 SMWS 3.327 ‘Siren’s Song’ 57.1%
- Talisker 25 yo ‘Bottle TA25 3987’ 45.8% ~ bottle code L0296CM004 bottled 2020 vs Ledaig 11 yo 2008 / 2019 The Swan Song & 1BRD #700104 58.7%
whiskyrific 