What To Do With A Used Bourbon Barrel

[Dood]

So I recently acquired a 3 gallon used bourbon barrel from Tutthilltown and I'm debating what to do with it.

My recent 3 liter experiment with a blend of JWray and LH151 was OK, but not terrific (I think I may have missed the peak on that one by about a week).

For the larger quantity I was thinking of just doing straight JWray Overproof for about 6 months or so.

Of course, a much cheaper option would be to use Cruzan white.

Any ideas?

[Edward Hamilton]

I think you'll find that 3 liters of overproof Wray & Nephew will fall short of your expectations. But if you add some spice, fruit or other flavoring it just might exceed your expectations, or maybe my expectation of your experiment. I'll be out to California several times over the summer.

[Dood]

I was talking to Forrest about this a few weeks ago and thinking of doing something like 2:1 or 3:1 JWray to Corruba.

Right now I'm somewhat torn between that, the all JWray, and doing something like Cruzan or even El Dorado 3 Year Old.

[Edward Hamilton]

With a 3 liter barrel you're going to get a lot of oak flavor fairly quickly, unless the barrel is quite old and with a higher proof you'll get more flavor faster.

[Arctic Wolf]

Six months seems to me to be an awfully long time in a small barrel. (Just saying)

My last experiments in my 1 litre barrels were roaring successes. I blended Lambs 151 with Cockspur 12 in a 60 40 ratio and I loved the result. it was left in a well used barrel for only about 4 weeks. I call this my Rumbeast Blend

I also blended ED 5 with a clear Highwood Rum for six weeks in a 55 - 45 ratio and it is pretty much my favourite spirit to come out of one of my barrels. (Six weeks in oak this time) In both cases I aced the barrel with apricot brandy for one week prior to blending and refinishing. I call this one Goldenwood Rum.

In your case the barrel is aced with bourbon, so I wouldn't use an additional spirit to ace it, it is more a matter of choosing a suitable rum to age/blend. The Bourbon is going to have a lot of impact so I would not choose a clear rum unless it had lots of flavour to resist the bourbon. Ed 3 would be such a good rum as you know. But Ed 3 is so good I am not sure it would improve.

I guess if it was me I would pick a rum(s) that would benefit from the additional sweetness of bourbon. I actually like the idea of a combination of J Wray Overproof, and Corruba.

Another option if you are extremely adventurous is to do something with Goslings Black Seal. I mixed 1/3 Goslings with 2/3 Matusalem Platino, (also had just a touch of Lambs 151). The result was very interesting, a blend I affectionaltely call THE MAD DUCK. This was aged for 8 weeks in a barrel I had aced with Woodford Reserve.

Not sure if any of this helps but those blends worked for me. And I like sharing my fun.

[Dood]

Just a clarification: The new barrel is 3 gallons, not 3 liters, so about 4 times bigger, hence the thoughts about longer aging.

The first experiment was with a 3 liter barrel. This is a whole nuther thing.

[Dood]

That being said, I do appreciate the tips. Just wanted to get out in front of the "3 liter" thing.

[Edward Hamilton]

And I haven't even started drinking, yet. I was thinking that 3 liters was awfully small for Tuthilltown to be using.

That's a good thing. So forrest won't be able to drink all of it before I get there.

[Arctic Wolf]

I read Ed's comment and I admit the 3 litre stuck in my mind even though you clearly said 3 gallons. Its kind of a surface area to volume thing, and of course a thickness of the barrel thing. What ever you do, I would begin to sample it much earlier than 6 months, just to make sure the oak and/or the bourbon do not overwhelm the spirit.

I just started a new experiment yesterday. I foolishly left the cap off of my bottle of Forty Creek Doublewood overnight. When I checked the taste it seemed to me to be something they would serve on Ten Forward. (A Star Trek reference indicating the alcohol kick was gone.)

What was I to do? The flavour was still there but no kick.
After much soul searching I decided on a radical experiment. I mixed the rest of the Double Barrel Canadian Whisky, with the new Bruichladdich X4.

For those who do not know X4 is an unaged Scottish malt distillate. After Blending I threw the mixture in a Oak cask which previously had only held Scotch.

Hopefully I saved the spirit but only time will tell.

Good Luck Dude!

[Dood]

After some careful consideration of the info here, I think I'm going to go with JWOP and Coruba for at least 3 months, and possibly spice it.

The 3 liter experiment with JWOP and LH151 left me with a very very hot rum with some good funk to it, but not entirely pleasant. I've been playing with small batches of it, trying to find the right blend with water and other additives to make it more mixable - I don't think sippable is in the cards.

I DO think that the flavor left in the barrel may lend nicely to a batch of bitters I have planned...

[Edward Hamilton]

3 gallons of bitters is a lot of bitters. I'd look to use charred oak chips in a bottle if you're looking for some oak flavor to your bitters.

If you're starting with J Wray & Nephew you probably aren't going to end up with something you're going to be able to or want to sip. It takes longer to age a high proof rum like that into something sippable and in a small barrel the wood will overpower the rum. But I'm sure you will be able to make something unique that all your friends will want to taste.

Maybe you'll end up saving it for your next ex-in-laws.

[Dood]

3 gallons of bitters is a lot of bitters. I'd look to use charred oak chips in a bottle if you're looking for some oak flavor to your bitters.

If you're starting with J Wray & Nephew you probably aren't going to end up with something you're going to be able to or want to sip. It takes longer to age a high proof rum like that into something sippable and in a small barrel the wood will overpower the rum. But I'm sure you will be able to make something unique that all your friends will want to taste.

Maybe you'll end up saving it for your next ex-in-laws.

Actually the bitters are going to get done in the 3 liter barrel. I'm thinking more and more that I should look at doing some other blend in the 3G barrel. Maybe some Cruzan White, JWOP (to up the proof), and maybe something like Coruba.