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America
American White Oak Barrel
Looking to try your hand at barrel-ageing? Then this is exactly what you need - a barrel! This is a 1 litre barrel made from brand-spanking-new fresh American white oak, which has been given a medium toast level.
So, when you get your hands on your very own barrel, don't just go whacking your favourite spirit in there right away, because you may notice that the metal hoops around the barrel might feel a bit loose. What you'll need to do is cure the barrel. To do this, you'll want to fill the barrel with hot water to thoroughly soak the wood. Don't have the bung inserted in the barrel; for this. Leave the water in there for at least 24 hours, but note that it can take up to a week for the wood to fully swell, sealing up any gaps between the staves and keeping the whole thing together. Thirsty little rascals. You'll also need to do this again if the barrel hasn't been used in a while.
Given the fact that no other spirit has ever been stored in the barrel, the effect of the oak on the spirit you fill into it will be very forceful. If you’re after creating your own whisky from new-make spirit, or indeed transforming a vodka into something oak-rich and powerful, this is good news. If you’re after adding a subtle barrel-aged note to a light and delicate cocktail or gin, then it’s probably not a good thing – you’d be well advised to store some vodka or ‘something else’ in it for a couple of weeks first.
Finally – The rate of evaporation from these puppies is quite large. The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, the surface area to volume ratio of the barrel is very high, and secondly, you’re probably not going to keep it at as low a temperature as you’d find in a warehouse in Scotland. You can expect to lose a fair old percentage per month if you’re keeping them at room temperature, so keep an eye on them and regularly turn the barrel to keep all parts of it wet.
Height including stand - 175mm
Length - 140mm
Diameter – 120mm
Circumference - 377mm
Lovely little barrel, added a great flavour to my spirit, only had it in a week and has beautiful oak flavour, a hint of smoke, sweet and smooth!
Great barrel, first 24h hot water, then dry port for 4 weeks, then islay mist for 4 weeks, then a blend of uggi and corry for 3 weeks finished off with Mackmyra white dog for 4 weeks. Great little barrel.
had it about a month put some vodka through it a couple of times and am loving the results. had a small problem with the tap sent an email to customer services about 3.50 am they got back straight away was amazed by 4.30 they were sending me a replacement. nice bit of kit looking forward to trying out a few more things with it and then gonna get a bigger one. massive respect to customer service couldn't ask for more
Filled my 1 ltr. barrel with two cheap whiskies, one a young grain blend and one blend which must have at least 90% young grain in it. I chose these two for the first batch because they had virutally zero cask influence. Been in 10 days now, cask is kept in a shed with a cool/cold temperature. Will have first sample in a few days. For the second batch I will be trying with a non-flavoured/neutral vodka with a 60% ABV because I want to see what the wood does to both colour and flavour at near new make strength. Depending on the result of that batch I will consider which direction to go with the third. I not expecting tasty result from anything here, it's all for fun and education. Plus, I doubt that what comes out of the cask will be any worse than what goes in.
It is a nice barrel. Definitely wood, but the metal hoops are already rusty, plus the top cap is very difficult to be put in and after we took it out to check everything, it was quite damaged. The barrel could be smoother on the edges and top.