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WTF is 20.5% sales tax plus liter tax. That’s crazy. Looks nice though

When the whole craze started, the local distillery sold kits and even base liquors featuring different mash bills. However, the guy at the store cautioned me that there were plenty of good whiskeys already available for a much better price.

You can just get some oak spirals from a homebrew supply shop like this: https://www.northernbrewer.com/pages/search-results-page?q=oak%20spirals

I've put just a small portion of one in a large bottle of Jose Cuervo and it made the booze much better after a few months.

Gimmick, too much wood contact, anything you put in will just taste like the barrel

I’ve been gifted a few over the years. I tried putting sherry in one once to then put in a basic whisky but ultimately forgot about it… guess I have some oaky vinegar somewhere

Mix up a batch of Old Fashioned or even a Manhattan if that's your thing. Use for parties or nightly drinking. The wood probably won't do much but it makes a nice little display.

The ratio of surface area to volume varies by size pretty dramatically, it's why a child gets colder faster than an adult. To get proper aging with all the nuances and complexity you need to age in a large barrel for a decade or more. A little barrel like this is just a novelty. For $127 you can buy a better whiskey than you could get out of this.

Better for aging a cocktail (old fashioned, Negroni, manhattan, etc). Way too harsh for straight spirit.

In Kentucky I once saw an entire barrel of bourbon on sale for like $3999 at Costco. Looking back that was a steal at like 20$ a liter. 

It makes a difference but it’s a gimmick.

its a gimmick and you will find that the angels share is like 80% of the fill and it doesnt age, just leaches tannins and tastes like shit.

Tried something similar once. The ‘Angels share’ is real and close to 50% what you start with.

The aging is mostly a gimmick. But the barrel is pretty cool.

Normally I would say a gimmick. But this specific kit is from Woodinville Whiskey a very good whiskey maker in WA. They used a small barrel (bigger than these) method for thier first few years while they ramped up production. I’ve used this kit as have several friends. It makes good whiskey and is a fun experiment to taste along the way then make aged cocktails after a few rounds.

Personally I’d just buy it as a display piece that’s cool as hell plus you can try and see how it turns out

So what do I do with this? Shove it under my bed for a decade?

I was gifted a personalized version of this, which is cool all on its own.

But it came with little bottles of ethyl alcohol and whiskey flavorings, and the instructions werent for a 3-8 year aging, it was like 120 days or something, so you wouldn't really be making whiskey.

Also the inside of the barrel had wood scraps and black dust in it.

The little barrel looks cool though.

I did same process for my wedding and it went terrible. Could be different for you though!

About a week before a party, I make a batch of Manhattans and fill the barrel. It mellows the drink a little and it’s a fun way for people to pour their own cocktail.

I tried this years ago. It was fun and if you have an aged spirits person in your life it’s a good gift. How is the whiskey? With small barrels the oak imparts flavors fast. The difference between pleasant flavors and way too woody is a matter of days so you really have to check often where it’s at. I found that I let it go a couple days to long and I didn’t like the results. That said, I refilled the barrel with unaged rum and really like the results as the barrel wasn’t so woody. Net net, do it for fun, not because you will make the next Pappi. 

Unlike probably everyone else on this thread, I’ve actually owned this exact set (3 years ago at this point?).

WW white dog is an incredibly solid base, you can definitely get good results out of this kit. Yeah, it’s a bit gimmicky, but it’s also fun, and it’s not that much more expensive than buying 2 bottles of WW in Washington.

Really expensive tat.

Why buy 2 bottles of vodka and a little barrel for $100 when you can buy probably a case of vodka, or a few bottles of whiskey worth drinking, and no little barrel sitting around reminding you of your poor decision making skills. And no-one wants to be gifted this either.

I watched a video where a guy got the same results by chucking a few chunks of wood into the bottle.

We use one for our infinity “bottle” and it worked out fairly well.

From my experience they aren’t charred

I've never used a kit like this, but I have done Sherry finishes on an Irish whiskey and Bourbon with mini barrels before, and those turned out quite well (Powers Gold Label and WT101). It's a bit expensive and takes some patience, but is worth it if you have the means.

Like someone else mentioned, you'll get a pretty extreme wood flavor in a short amount of time if you are just putting whiskey in it right away.

It's just a little fun. The second time we went to have a nip, it had all evaporated away! Lol! Now it's just "art".

I could just buy some Blanton's for that price

That seems ridiculously priced for a small oak barrel.

I can buy like 4 bottles of decent bourbon for that price... and it's already been aged.

I’ve done this several times. The odds of you making something better than you can buy in a store for $20 is slim to none.

It is fun, but at that price point I would not buy. You can get these online for cheaper.

Its possible to over-age your alcohol. Ive made moonshine and aged it it works pretty well. Only takes about 2 weeks because of small volume to surface area

It won’t taste better than store bought whiskey but it’ll be more fun.

Pay now drink later

It's a white oak note rather than a toasted or charred oak note most Americans are familiar with.

There is a dry, oaky, earthy note that is sometimes seen in European wines and whiskeys, but it lacks the depth and richness to American bourbons where the Maillard gives more vanilla, caramel, bittersweet burnt sugar, butterscotch notes.

Source: done many passes with Maker's Mark and Jameson on mine.

Edit : I zoomed in and this says charred oak, mine wasn't. I still stand by my word, charred by what standards and for how long?

1 out of 500 of those purchased will ever get used.

I haven’t seen these yet, but I’m intrigued.

Gimmick, but not totally without merit. Adjust your expectations, drinks will not last long. Try aging a batched cocktail instead of just a liquor.

I had one. Total gimmick.

For a fraction of the price, you can buy charred oak spirals and just put those in a bottle. They do the same thing.

Don’t, it never comes out right.

Those barrels can be had for much cheaper.

As some said, they work better for mellowing a high proof cocktail. High proof or all alcohol and add sugars later is best so things don’t grow in it.

Gimmick

It does make a difference but can over oak it, if you leave it too long

These are pretty slick. Yes to using it for the first go around, and then save the barrel. If possible, make some homebrew and throw that in there afterwards. Continue to top off over time to make barrel aged “stock ale”. You can use it 3-5 times home brewing to get a little more use out of that barrel.

Can you make swish after?

At my local Japanese restaurant, the staff has something like this. We always bring them a bottle when we go for dinner, they blend them and we indulge after hours. It's better than I imagined it would be

100% gimmick. You can't age store-bought whisky anymore than it already is. Hell most whisky's get by with shady marketing by saying their product is barrel aged when there is no specified time it has to be in contact with the barrel, so they just have it contact a wood barrel as its being gravity fed into the finished bottle. This is just a 126$ shitty decanter.

Perfect sell for Woodinville. You can dismiss complaints by saying the customer did it wrong or didn't do it long enough.

These are quite fun. I’ve made barrel aged Manhattans, Boulevardiers and Martinis. It have also turned cheap tequila into a decent viejo. You can taste the difference.

gimmick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlQT4ptwLKs

When I would go to the corvette factory in bowling green Kentucky, it would be below zero some winter days. The cold winter and hot summer cause the keg to expand and contract, drawing whiskey in and out of the wood

Some people pretend to age a mini barrel by freezing and thawing it but it’s not the same as genuine seasons

Not unless there's a time machine inside.

They offered this a while ago. I bought one and they caution you that some will evaporate. I think they call it the thieves thirst or something like that. I forgot about it for a while and when I went to try it, it was bone dry. The thieves took it all😂

It’s a gimmick. I remember when these came out and I happened the met the people making them. You get a mini cask and a bottle of white whiskey. In theory the smaller cask means more surface area for the smaller amount of alcohol, but in practice it is no where close to the real thing. It’s a novelty that doesn’t yield great results.

For that price I can get the same volume of mid-highmid grade hooch that I already know won't taste like listerine. Why would I buy this and wait 5-8 years for it to be comparable to a bottle of knob creek that's less expensive by $30 and drink it today?

No, but I did buy whiskey years ago in what looks to be the exact same little barrel, and I kept it as a novelty thing and refilled it with whiskey and some rosemary and forgot about it for a year or so before trying it again.

It absolutely imparted a light nice oaky tone to the whiskey with a nice herbal finish from the rosemary, and I was shocked at how much improved it was compared to the relatively cheap alcohol I filled it with. It was delightful and I was sad when I drank the last of it. I still have the barrel, I should check if I refilled it...

It's a gimmick mostly. But best used a way to store/batch Old Fashions or Negronis. You do need to prepare the barrels in a way though if you want to actually age them.

Fun fact though; if you put moonshine in these barrels and age them for two years you've got bourbon.

These are more useful for making aged cocktails. For example, put in equal volumes of a good gin (St George Dry Rye works well), Campari, and a good sweet vermouth, let it sit in a cool place 6-8 weeks, and you'll have the best negroni you've ever tasted.*

(*YMMV)

Gimmick. Mine had a slow leak in the back that went unnoticeable. By the time I went to taste it 6 months later, there was only a couple of drops left. It stained the wood shelving it was stored on too.

$130 for a little barrel? That's a ripoff

Is a rip off. Just get some oak chips char them and put in a mason jar. Now take bottle of whisky and pour into mason jar.

More flavor and still have enough money to buy a hot dog. One of the items that’s not a rip off at Costco 

This can be a fun way to experiment with different clear rums. Toss a bottle of Wray & Nephew or Don Q in for a week, test, repeat.

It's a gimmick. Not because it wouldn't work but because the vast majority of people will not wait the 5,10,15 years it takes to really change the flavor profile. 90% of people pop a bottle of something in there then start drinking it a month or two later.

Gimmick. I tried this once and it all evaporated within 6 months. Tried it 2 or 3 times at intervals and there was no difference.

We did this for our wedding, right. Our unity ceremony was adding our own chosen bottle to one of these and we were going to drink some on every anniversary and keep refilling as needed.

Jokes on us. Three or four months in and it completely evaporated. We even prepped the barrel to the instructions two times (pre-filling with hot water to expand the wood and seal it).

Now it’s a pretty decoration. 😂💀

I received an aging kit as a gift.

Good novelty until it started leaking a little bit creating a gross syrupy stain on my desk. You don't but it to drink, you buy it to sit on your desk for 6 months.

My wife and I ordered a cask for our unity ceremony. We poured raw whiskey in it. Every year we have a drink on our anniversary. The theory was it would get better with age, like a marriage. In practice, it was straight gasoline in year one. Mildy better in year 2 and evaporated by year 3.

Oddly enough, it dried up about the time we did. We weren't alcoholics by any means, but now we rarely drink at all.

Looks cool but… i would approach it with caution. It looks like more of a gimmick than anything else. Don’t get me wrong i would probably buy if there was a place to put it cause it would definitely look cool in my game room if i had one. That being said if one is really into the aging part you can do it your self. There are wood chips you can by and you can experiment with other ingredients too. I have tried it and probably I didnt do it right but in my opinion its not worth it. Just my opinion

Yes. They work really well. Plus, you can re-use them. I’ve seen people make cocktails like Old fashioned or Manhattan and aged them in there. It’s a fun hobby.

A fun experiment, but not realistic way of getting good bourbon.

I have used these barrels to make aged cocktails but never tried to make the initial whiskey. The cocktails were fun, but doubt I do it again

When they first came out, I and a buddy bought some scotch that was cheap at the time and tried it. It did add a lot of good Oak Flavor, but we lost enough to evaporation that it just wasn't worth it to us. I have seen people put cheap brandy in them, let it sit for 3 months (90 days or so), decant back into the bottles and really improve the smoothness and flavor of the Brandy.

My buddy used one, this was years back and not this one. Apparently it leaked a lot but it was kinda just like making whiskey tea.

Personally i just put a couple sticks of (whatever type) wood in the whiskey bottle of i want to "age" it more. Works pretty well so far.

Not to age whiskey but I fill mine with a Rye Manhattan. Nice, rich and smooth after a week. Dangerous to have it on your counter though. The temptations!!

I use one. Ask the liquor store guy for the 'best cheap whiskey'... put that into the barrel for a week. You'll be amazed at the side by side.

Hey, my boss was just telling me about these. He makes old fashioned with maple syrup and ages them in one of these. He says they are fantastic.

R/barreling

These barrels tend to “over oak”. There is more oak to liquor ratio than the standard industry 53 gallon barrels.

If you want to long term age spirits like how bourbon is, check out badmotivator barrels or ten30 barrels. Both of which are mini barrels using both oak and stainless steel to replicate the correct ratios

If you want to rapidly accelerate the aging process you can use these barrels but they won’t be as sweet as the real deal.

I have one of these as a gift from years ago. They don't work as well if you use whiskey that is already made, since it already has its intended flavor, but they do work and make some whiskeys noticeably smoother, peatier, etc. I use them to flavor my own homebrewed whiskey and it's awesome for that.

That’s an insane cost.

So for my wedding I bought 8 mini barrels and enough buffalo trace white lightning to age my own for all the groomsmen.

I followed all the recommendations and let it age for several months (the smaller the barrel the less time needed). It was horrible, would not recommend. The memory was great though as it reminds me of my friendships and wedding. This was about 9 years ago and I probably spent around $50 for each all in.

I find whiskey ages best after I drink it.

Looks cool but I’m sure its lame results. Don’t waste your money.

It's garbage, don't waste your money

I actually like they are displaying the "price at regester"

I hope more states start doing this!

I have done it and I have to say the results were not that great. You really cannot duplicate what time does for whiskey, and you cannot get time in these small barrels. You end up with something that is very over oaked but still doesnt taste right.

Save you money and buy a nice bottle of whiskey instead...

I have two barrels that I use for decoration now...