Personal Cask Conditioning
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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.
Comments
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That's awesome! I'm really interested in how this will all play out!
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nice work irish
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Cool! Can't wait to see how it goes
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Thanks Gang, week 2's journal entry and sampling will be up Saturday night after work wraps up.
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I didnt know this was a thing you could do at home until I saw your recent posts of the setup. I'm excited to follow along on your journey and I might have to try something similar in the future.
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Cool. That seems like fun. The barrels at a distillery are kept in un- air-conditioned buildings and are exposed to many temperature variations. They say the oak expands and contracts and this helps the process. You have any plans to keep it in the barn or in the attic or anything like that?
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If been excited for this since you told me about it!
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Yeah I highly encourage it, so far been a lot of fun and learning quite a bit too. Plus it's really addicting lolavengethis:I didnt know this was a thing you could do at home until I saw your recent posts of the setup. I'm excited to follow along on your journey and I might have to try something similar in the future. -
So far I havent, but that's because I don't have any attic or cellar or garage or crawl space etc otherwise I would. Still thinking of possible alternatives but you are spot on Bob.Bob Luken:Cool. That seems like fun. The barrels at a distillery are kept in un- air-conditioned buildings and are exposed to many temperature variations. They say the oak expands and contracts and this helps the process. You have any plans to keep it in the barn or in the attic or anything like that? -
Thanks bro glad you're enjoying, will be doing weekly updates on itCrousefer:If been excited for this since you told me about it! -
Wow Brett that's amazing! I had no idea you could do this stuff at home either. Can't wait to see how this turns out, looking forward to the next tasting post. Taking drinking to a whole new level my man, you make me proud to be Irish.
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I'm enthusiastic about this. I may have to get one myself in order to keep from obsessing over yours. LOL Can hardly wait for your next tasting to see how this progresses. And, will you post your tasting notes on the Jacob's Ghost before it went into the cask?
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Lol it's been really really fun so far and I am definitely enjoying this! As for tasting notes prior to being put into oak, sadly I was a bit of an idiot and did not actually sample or take notes. That being said though, Jacob's Ghost is actually just regular Jim Beam White Label that has only been rested for 1 year instead of their normal process to get White Label. So it should give a pretty decent idea of what it was and should be like. I was thinking. About storing the cask at Pop's place because he has a locked outdoor sealed shed that would really allow for the temp and condition changes that would be more similar to a rick house environment. We shall seeBob Luken:I'm enthusiastic about this. I may have to get one myself in order to keep from obsessing over yours. LOL Can hardly wait for your next tasting to see how this progresses. And, will you post your tasting notes on the Jacob's Ghost before it went into the cask?
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Hahahah thanks George I do what I canThe3Stogies:Wow Brett that's amazing! I had no idea you could do this stuff at home either. Can't wait to see how this turns out, looking forward to the next tasting post. Taking drinking to a whole new level my man, you make me proud to be Irish. But yeah very very lucky to have such an amazing and thoughtful partner as I do in my wife! Glad yall are digging this casking project and I will keep updating as much as I possibly can -
90+ Irishman:Thanks Gang, week 2's journal entry and sampling will be up Saturday night after work wraps up.
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. -
Can't wait to hear... hey Brett, how long do you this experiment will go? Just wondered if you were planning months, year? I guess a smaller amount of whiskey will age relatively faster than say a full size bourbon barrel.
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?
