A friend of mine conducted a re-barrel project about 18 months ago with very good results. For those that are unfamiliar with re-barreling, it's taking bottles of whiskey and dumping them back into a charred barrel. Simple as that…..almost. First, selecting the whiskey is kind of important. If the whiskey or bourbon you want to re-barrel isn't that good to begin with then chances are what comes out won't be that much better. So, picking a good whiskey for starters is key. Another important aspect is the entry proof. Going with at least 100pf means I'm starting with something that has greater potential for change (e.g. increase in proof over time). Re-barreling an 80pf bourbon wouldn't result in much change would be my guess. For my project, I'm going with Very Old Barton Bottled in Bond which is a darn good bourbon for a paltry $11 a 750. This particular bourbon is of course 100 proof and 6 years old, and pretty tasty. I really wanted to get this project going this last summer but work and other life issues got in the way so here I am almost to Thanksgiving ready to purchase a barrel and dump away. I wanted to post a short blog just to alert you of my newest dorky activity. It's going to be fun and based on my friend's success, looking forward to the progress through next spring and summer. I'll post progress reports as I go and when I'm ready to dump and seal the barrel, I'll post that as the starter
Great blog Greg. I am really enjoying it. What size barrel? Charred? What degree? Toasted only? White Oak? Where will you store it? Will the area be well ventilated? Any direct sun or other heat source? This will be sooooo cool. Let me know when you are gonna sample it. I will do my best to be there.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to hearing about the results. Does the place you'er storing your barrel change temperature a lot or does it stay the same temp.
ReplyDeleteThe barrel is 5L, white oak with medium char. At first I thought about housing it in my garage but decided instead to place it in my tractor shed in the yard. Placing it there will give it full exposure to the seasonal cycles. There will be no direct sunlight as I'm hoping to replicate a warehouse environment as much as possible. After dumping VOB in the barrel, I will keep some back as a reference bottle and then every 4 months or so, pull off about 100ml for sample (or more if ya'll join me in tasting). I figure 15-18 months will be the extent that I keep the bourbon in the barrel, of course ultimately based on tasting over the course of the project. I'll post pictures of the barrel, dumping and shed so you can see the process.
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled across this concept of rebarreling whiskey today and found your blog. I am very interested in doing this. I live in PA and my garage gets to about 110 degrees in the summer and about 0 degrees in the winter, so I have an awesome temperature differential. I am thinking about buying some Old Grand-Dad BIB and rebarreling that. Where is a good place to get barrels and what should I look for as I make my selections?
ReplyDeleteEthan - thanks for your comments. OGD BIB is a pretty good bourbon and not a bad selection for a re-barrel. While the temperature swings sound good in theory, the barrel you will be using will be significantly smaller than a typical bourbon barrel; like a 5L size. Because of the small surface area, the bourbon will be much more active and in essence age at a faster pace. I've had mine outside for over a month now and initially the weather was pretty mild so the bourbon was somewhat active, but the weather has turned very cold so now it's more dormant. I plan on bringing the barrel in to the house after the first of the year and let it experience higher temperatures for a while and then rotate it back outside. Remember, this is just an experiment so it's pretty much trial and error.
ReplyDeleteI picked up my barrel in Manassas, VA at 1000 Oaks Barrels; there website is http://www.1000oaksbarrel.com. You can order online to get a barrel. I picked up a 5L barrel that wasn't finished. All the barrels have a medium char. As for the size, that's pretty much up to you. I think they have 1L, 3L, 5L and others that are larger. Good luck and let us know how your re-barrel progresses.
Thanks for the reply! I need to figure out what exactly I want to re-barrel and then order a barrel. You said the barrel wasn't finished. Do you mean you have to assemble it? Also, what does different stages of charring do to the aging process?
ReplyDeleteWhen I said unfinished, I meant the outside of the barrel. It comes fully assembled and ready for use but you can get the barrel with a stain/glossy finish which I didn't care about. There are two ways you can get the barrel; toasted or charred. Toasting is a very light burning of the wood. Bourbon gets it's color and some flavors from the char itself so a light toasting isn't going to increase/add to the vanilla/caramel/sweet qualities that charring will produce. I think if you go with a toasting, you will get more of the oak flavors since there's very little layer of char for the bourbon to transition through. Bottom line, a charred barrel will produce more drastic changes to the bourbon than a toasting.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I'll have to keep that in mind. I just need to scrape a few dollars together and then get my project off the ground. I can't wait to further age some OGD 100 Bonded and see how incredible it tastes.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I see that you like out of production whiskies. I am a Michter's collector and have been doing research on the company. I live about 15 minutes from the distillery and actually work there occasionally doing clean up and maintenance with the owner of the site. If you've never had the original stuff from Schaefferstown (Kentucky Bourbon Distillers and Chatham Imports make it now and it's not the same) I would suggest trying to get your hands on some. It's like nothing else. I started a blog that will document my Michter's research. Enjoy: http://theethansmithblog.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteEthan - you are correct, I do like out of production bourbons and a majority of my collection reflects that. I do have some A.H. Hirsch Blue Wax which is from Michter and it's really great bourbon. Besides OGB BIB, you could also try Very Old Barton BIB (which is what I used for my rebarrel) or Evan Williams BIB which is very inexpensive.
ReplyDeleteI would try those, but living in PA, I am at the mercy of the state. We don't have any private liquor stores up here. We can't even buy a beer at the supermarket! The state controls all wine and spirits and sells them through "state stores." So if the state doesn't carry it, I'm SOL unless I travel down to Maryland and get some. The only good cheap 100+ proof the state carries is the OGD. Sad isn't it?
ReplyDeleteWell, I too live in a controlled state so I do shop in DC and MD to find things VA doesn't carry. Is OGD BIB the only BIB available? Is there a state website where you can check what inventory they carry or talk to the local store manager?
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can tell, it's the only one available locally. I've visited all of the state stores around here and that's the only one I've found. PA has a pitiful whiskey selection. They focus mainly on wines and vodka. At any given state store, you'll have at minimum 3-5 aisles of wine and a full aisle of vodka. Then you'll have maybe 3-5 shelves of whiskey and that's it. The state has a site, but they only list a few specials on it. It is mainly for selecting wines. As for ordering, first you have to find someone that is not grumpy and willing to help you, which usually involves going to several different state store before you can find that. What the employee has to do is log on the state's system and punch in what you are requesting. The site does a search of the other stores and the warehouses and if it finds a match, then you can get it. If the state doesn't carry it, you can't get it and they won't special order it. So basically, I go down to MD every few months and check out the selection down there.
ReplyDeleteOn the website for the barrels, it talks about using their tablets to cure the barrel for a few days. Did you do this? I would think this curing process would significantly alter the aging process.
ReplyDeleteNo, I did not do this as it's not necessary. Just buy the bourbon and pour it in.
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