Roll out the barrel

[Todd Bradshaw]

So, I'm browsing the internet, minding my own business and I stumble on a place that makes little charred oak barrels in various sizes. They will also laser-engrave names and logos on them for free. I couldn't resist, so I ordered a 2-litre version and sent them a jpeg of an Old Pulteney logo to see how good their engraving is. It arrived the other day and is pretty neat. It's rustic enough to look like the real deal, rather than a varnished piggy bank, and after the recommended couple of days being filled with water to take up like a boat and rinsed to remove any loose char, it doesn't leak. I doubt I'll actually ever fill it with Pulteney (some things shouldn't be messed with, especially at $40+ per bottle) but it's currently full of a fairly inexpensive blend mixed with a bottle of young Speyburn that tasted pretty raw to us. I'll let it age for a bit and see what we get. In any case, it's just kind of a neat thing to own. The spigot is a little crude, but works. When I get time I'll turn a nicer one, maybe walnut or something with tighter grain that will finish up a little nicer.

It came from.
http://www.barrelsonline.com

[Dughlas mor]

Very interesting. I have some friends who own a small distillery, and recently they have been experimenting with aging whisky in small casks, though quite a bit bigger than the one you have there. The theory is that the aging process is accelerated by having more wood in contact with less spirit. I was skeptical until I tasted the results of a rye/ barley mix that had been aged a mere two months. Not bad! I would be curious to know the results of your experiment.

[Couper]

A local pub has a "house" Manhattan, a Buffalo Trace Manhattan, that they pre-mix and age in small barrels (like that) for three months. The result is quite amazing. I will have one (or two) this evening when the wife and I go there for dinner and libations.

(Fortunately it is within comfortable walking distance of our Baltimore house.)

[ctbuchanan]

From what little I know I would caution you not to leave the whisky in the barrel too long (weeks to a month) or risk having too much of the raw wood flavor over saturate the product.

But it sounds like fun and worth experimenting.

I've done more with infusions in the bottle (not wood) with fruits, herbs etc and found that you have to be careful how long you let them sit in the spirit.

[GrainReaper]

I have a couple charred 5 gallon oak barrels that I use to age some of the beers I brew, one of my favorite beers to barrel age is my 12% Scottish wee heavy, after 6 months on charred oak it has an amazing complexity, and at 12%abv it lasts quite a while as I serve it in a snifter after carbing up to proper levels

[McClef]

Once out of the original cask and bottled the official age remains the declared age even if you do put it into another cask at home.

Effects on the taste would be interesting to sample though. int:

[MacEanruig]

Methinks my personal arms would look rather nice engraved on a barrel. Thank you for sharing this with the group.

[The Q]

My sailing club has a trophy called "The Pussers Rum Trophy" which is a similarly sized barrel and stand. It's awarded to a club member for assisting the club. Sadly I only got the one bottle of Pussers Rum with the barrel.
I have a full sized barrel for my cider, but I hadn't thought of getting small barrel for whisky, its definitely something to try..is there a company this side of the pond to do the laser printing?