Personal Cask Conditioning - Updated and Poll for Next Project
90+_Irishman
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Well Gang I decided to setup my own thread for this as a few brothers have expressed interest in the experiment I am doing and wanted to be able to follow along, so here ya go 
As most of y'all know I am a bit of a whiskey/bourbon fan. For this most recent birthday my wife got me this really awesome 1L new American White Oak cask for me to condirion and finish my own spirits in, and I decided that after conditioning and curing the cask that I would start with a 750ml of white whiskey to condition and rest and see how it comes along over the next several weeks and months. Every 7 days from when I first put the spirit in, I take a very small sample and take down some notes in my little distilling and casking journal, and then I rotate the cask clockwise 1/4 revolution. The notes below are from the first weeks tasting this past Saturday the 21st.
Personal Cask Conditioning Log
Setup: On 3/14/15 @ 1:30pm MST, a 750ml of Jim Beam Jacob's Ghost was put into oak. This is the first substance to be put into this 1L charred American White Oak cask (No. 4 char). Jacob's Ghost is a whiskey that was rested for 1 year before being bottled and seemed a perfect candidate for this first experimental cask finishing.
Initial Tasting at 1 Week 3/21/15 8:30pm MST:
Color: In a week alone this has taken on a significant coloration. It has gone from very nearly colorless to a light oak and toffee hue.
Nose: Not surprisingly this is a remarkably young nose, tannin/slightly sour woody notes, leather and slight grain spice.
Palate: This is actually surprisingly decent all things considered. It starts out with a moderately sugary sweetness laced heavily with a lot of smoke and young semi-sour tannin infused young oak. The finish is a bit short and is dominated primarily by grain spice (mild) and some char too (mild). Overall it is coming along well and picking up some character. I look forward to how this develops over the next few weeks and months.
As most of y'all know I am a bit of a whiskey/bourbon fan. For this most recent birthday my wife got me this really awesome 1L new American White Oak cask for me to condirion and finish my own spirits in, and I decided that after conditioning and curing the cask that I would start with a 750ml of white whiskey to condition and rest and see how it comes along over the next several weeks and months. Every 7 days from when I first put the spirit in, I take a very small sample and take down some notes in my little distilling and casking journal, and then I rotate the cask clockwise 1/4 revolution. The notes below are from the first weeks tasting this past Saturday the 21st.
Personal Cask Conditioning Log
Setup: On 3/14/15 @ 1:30pm MST, a 750ml of Jim Beam Jacob's Ghost was put into oak. This is the first substance to be put into this 1L charred American White Oak cask (No. 4 char). Jacob's Ghost is a whiskey that was rested for 1 year before being bottled and seemed a perfect candidate for this first experimental cask finishing.
Initial Tasting at 1 Week 3/21/15 8:30pm MST:
Color: In a week alone this has taken on a significant coloration. It has gone from very nearly colorless to a light oak and toffee hue.
Nose: Not surprisingly this is a remarkably young nose, tannin/slightly sour woody notes, leather and slight grain spice.
Palate: This is actually surprisingly decent all things considered. It starts out with a moderately sugary sweetness laced heavily with a lot of smoke and young semi-sour tannin infused young oak. The finish is a bit short and is dominated primarily by grain spice (mild) and some char too (mild). Overall it is coming along well and picking up some character. I look forward to how this develops over the next few weeks and months.
"When walking in open territory bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them."
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Comments
"I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke ever last one of 'em." - Ron White
Must have been a good test, or a hard worknite. You're Irish so I know you can't be hungover, hope all is well.
Also, I assume you're gonna reuse this cask over and over. I imagine the first run will get the most flavor out of the wood? Do you think later batches will take longer or have less flavor from the barrel? I guess you could always switch spirits and do like a port or rum in between whiskies to get another finish?
My next big project once we have a new space where I can construct and play with my hobbies myself will be for me to design, build and operate my own still. I'd like to try my hand at making my own whiskey and bourbon with my own mash bill and from a still of my own design.
Location Change
- Sunday March 29th, moved cask from wet bar inside home in Longmont, CO to parent's home in Johnstown, CO. Specifically, the outdoor work shed that is locked and in the northwest corner of the property, there is no insulation and building goes through dramatic climate and temperature changes. Did this to act as a makeshift rick house so that cask will experience dramatic climate change. Also, rotated cask to 3 o'clock position side facing down. Did not sample this week as I am concerned about volume of whiskey in cask.
- Sunday April 5th.
- Checked on cask 1 week after putting in makeshift rick house.
- Dramatic climate change in the last week. Went from mid-high 70's to high wind, sleet, rain and snow with temps dropping to mid-30's.
- Due to temp and weather fluctuations cask started to leak out of the head, butt and bung.
- Only about 50% volume remains in cask after leak as well as Angel's Share loss.
- Moved cask into the Garage now instead, still some climate changes but not as severe and hope to minimize leakage in this environment now.
Week 3 Sampling
- Sample was drawn from cask and put into sample vial on Sunday April 5th.
- Review of sample is being done on Thursday April 9th, 2015.
Color: The whiskey has darkened up dramatically by comparison to the rested whiskey that was first put into the cask over 3 weeks ago. At this point I would call it light blonde and amber with a light-moderate oak hue.
Nose: I'm pleasantly surprised to notice that the nose has improved markedly compared to the last sample I took. The strong and ever present overpowering young wet wood/oak smell has calmed down a lot and savory charred meat tone is mild but distinctly present now. I also can pickup hints of a sweetness lingering just out of reach in the back and I look forward to what the coming weeks and months may bring to this.
Palate: Wow.... what a change and development, I can scarcely believe this is the same whiskey I put into oak less than a month ago!!! Once again you can still pick up the young wet oak but it is really toned down and dialed back. I get some confectionary sweetness right off the bat and then it leads into notes of leather and char to a short finish. Overall a very nice development and much better than I ever expected!
Here is the hue of the sample after 3 weeks in the cask...
This thread is so interesting, I really had no idea what was involved in aging whiskey. I just thought you set it in a barrel for a few years and that was it.
Now, I think I'm going to pull this out pretty soon because there is only about 1/3 of the cask full anymore and I don't feel like too much more will change unless I leave it in for another several months. So I am deciding what to put into oak next and I thought I would put it to a vote....
1. Barrel Aged Manhattan - Make my own 1 liter mix of a quality Manhattan and rest it in oak for 2-6 months.
2. Barrel Aged Old Fashioned - Same as above just with an Old Fashioned
3. Barrel Aged Rum such as Zaya as an example etc.
4. Extra age a decent rye or whiskey such as Rebel Yell, Rittenhouse Rye or Kings County Distllery Bourbon