Oak Barrel

[Chè]

a few things i would say.

1. a plain oak barrel will impart different flavors than a charred or toasted barrel.
2. a small barrel (like a 1.3 Gal) will impart flavor pretty quickly, people usually tend to fill them to mature in terms of days/weeks.
3. Buffalo Trace tried this recently (slightly bigger scale 5, 10 & 15 gallon barrels) as opposed to standard 53 gallon barrels. the smaller barrels were all of same distillate, matured side by side, 6 years.

The results were less than stellar. Even though the barrels did age quickly, and picked up the deep color and smokiness from the char and wood, each bourbon yielded less wood sugars than typical from a 53 gallon barrel, resulting in no depth of flavor.

[Big Sarge]

We consumed ours at the BN Commander's Social. I think the barrel definitely took some of the edge off, but there is still a strong flavor of corn. Maybe if we let a batch age till AT next summer????? Anyway, I think aging in the barrel definitely has potential