Whisky Maturation

[sorren]

Hi,
Im not sure if anyone is interested but i have decided to try and mature my own whisky, Firstly i filled my little ( 2ltr ) barrel with port and left it for a month, then the barrel was filled with just under 2ltrs of glenfiddich 12 year old, now only time will tell i have had a little taste after a couple of days and all is ok so far.. if anyone is interested i will keep posting to let you know how things are going....

[michael]

Keep us up to date with some pics along the way.

[sorren]

Just a couple of pics.... the usual before and after pics. This is after only a few days..... original whisky is glenfiddich 12, and now its a glenfiddich port wood finish lol....

[Jojo]

Sorren - I think your experiment is quite interesting and it certainly has piqued my curiosity....so, I consulted with an expert who had this to say:
"I would suggest that when he reckons the taste is acceptable that he puts the spirit back into bottle so no further wood extraction happens, but never fill the empty cask with water of any sort as that ruins the flavour of the wood and makes any further fillings smell like rotten wood. Apart from losing a large angels share the strength will most likely drop and if it drops too low then the whisky will always look cloudy."

Tell me more about your barrel - is it new oak? Has it been conditioned?

This is interesting, please keep us posted!

[sorren]

Thanks for that reply.
The story so far is- The barrel was purchased second hand and i was not sure what had been inside, so it was quite a risk, Once i got the barrel home i dismantled it and removed the charing and re chared, the wood looked very clean which made me think nothing much had been inside, i then decided i would go for the port as it was fairly cheap and if things went wrong i hadnt lost too much, then i decided on glenfiddich 12 as again it isnt too expensive, im now thinking i willl leave the whisky in the barrel for around 6 weeks, this is because im under the impression that in such a small barrel 3 months is the same as a year in larger barrels, and i think some finishes are normaly 6 months to a year, but as you say jojo it will be down to taste, I now intend to buy a couple of barrels from a company in the states and have them shipped over so i can try new oak and mabye get the toasted oak flavour...
any more info you come across it greatfully recieved....

[lj121746]

Awesome idea, keep it up!

[sorren]

Hello again,
just sampled the whisky and its doing well,
nose - the port comes through well, some floral notes and a touch of vanilla,
taste - smooth and sweet, theres fruit in there with an oakiness to it,vanilla comes through and a little toffee too,
finish - long with lasting fruit, although wood is the last taste you get...
I think it is finishing quite well and i am looking forward to the finished product......

[Jojo]

Awesome! Thanks for the feedback - please continue to keep us posted. We're all expecting an invite for a tasting at your place soon

[sorren]

Thats not a problem, although by the time the planes start to fly again and catch up ill have drunk the lot (hic) and its a long way to fly for a dram or three.... maybe this is a good excuse to buy an even bigger barrel and repeat the experiment.....

[Jojo]

Ha! Great idea

[sorren]

Just a thought on this, once i do bottle the whisky can i re fill the barrel with port before refilling with whisky or should i stick to just whisky now???

[michael]

IMO, I would stick with keeping it for whisky.

[sorren]

The reason i ask is the barrel is just for doing port finishes, i was thinking that once the whisky had been it would it reall give a second whisky a strong port finish ?

[michael]

Not sure if it would be stronger. Some info I found:

Casks may be used for as many as four fills (filled with four separate batches of new make spirit). Generally, though, casks are retired after their second, or third re-fills.

Some great info here: http://www.thewhiskystore.de/experts/casks.htm

[sorren]

Thanks very much for that.......

[bkblankenship]

Super experiment!! With such a small cask, the whisky is seeing much more of the cask and Port. It appears you are checking often to ensure the whisky is doing well. Keep it up as Port can cross the line without warning with the nose being beautiful and the taste becoming rancid. If you stay on top of it, you will have some good drams to enjoy in the evenings after dinner. I currently am working on LIVING BOTTLES; an "all" malts; an Islay; an Ardbeg; and a Laphroaig.

Continued Good Luck with your experiment.

[sorren]

Hi again...
Ok time for a update, the whisky has now had 3 months in the barrel and i decided to have another taste, it was time to bottle it, it has a great nose to it and boy is it sweet, not over sweet though, i will give you a full run down,

nose -- fruity with a great wiff of vanilla and oak, after a while a strong scent of maple syrup comes through mmmmmmmmm lovely.

palate -- sweet and loads of fruit in here, lots of oak and vanilla, the oak seems to linger and right at the end there is a hint and it is just a hint of the toffee, it is rather nice....

finish -- the longer you hold it the more oak you get, the oak is not a problem but really does add to the finish..

top tip... drink neat and slow, followed by a bit more....

[Jojo]

What a great experiment for you - sounds great!

[bkblankenship]

Congratulations on a successful experiment!!