StillSmart

for shawry99:
I was a JD man for donkey's years - never touch the stuff these days
because I make my own now.

Whatever you do don't bother with essences if your palate really knows what the real thing tastes like.

You can use the Essencia Bourbon Chunks or you can go to a Barbecue supplier and purchase Jack Daniels Wood Smoking Chips for a fraction of the price. This thread deals with how much to use and for how long. Go back to the beginning and it's all there for you.


Soak good clean, filtered neutral from double distilling in your Airstill and leave to soak for 7-10 days (actually it's good after 5-7 days but be patient, it'll be worth it)

As for the containers what's wrong with jam jars, coffee jars, pint glasses, half pint glasses. When leaving them to air cover the top with tissue (bog roll) and secure with an elastic band - it's only to keep bugs and debris out.

AM

Aidan is dead on. I love Bourbon (and now I love MY Bourbon) and tried several essences. The best of the lot were dreadful. The worst were undrinkable. The JD chips make a darn nice "Rum Aged in Bourbon Barrels" as well.

Chuck

On the whole JD and Bourbon subject. A well meaning acquaintance gave me a bottle of JD recently and as I was bottling some of my own FAUX JD - neutral from a sugar wash at 40% soaking on JD BBQ Smoking Barrel Chunks - I decided to do a taste comparison side by side.

Test 1
1 Teaspoon of JD neat, Swirl around the tongue and tastebuds, no swallow, spit and rinse. Result: Nice initial flavour followed by sharp edged mouthfeel and a lota lota heat and strong chemical taste

Test 2
1 Teaspoon of Own Brand neat. Swirl around the tongue and tastebuds, no swallow, spit and rinse. Result: Nice initial flavour with noticeable Valillan note and just a hint of smokiness, nice mouthfeel, no heat on the tongue and just little warmth at the back of the mouth.

Of course I'm biased but the description is what I actually found.

The process of soaking these barrel chunks is just a means of extracting the dried-in whiskey remnants from the wood using a clean neutral spirit. I can only conclude the differences I found and described above were due to the neutral, which I made and used in the process, being devoid of heads or tails.

Having tasted the neat JD side by side with my own product I am now of the opinion that commercial spirit manufacturers include far too much of the elements from the still that we either recycle of discard.

I'm actually wondering, based on the raw after-taste, whether commercial distillers remove any of the heads or tails from their distillate.

AM

Interesting that Aiden so was it just neutral and a soak with bourbon chunks ?

That's how I make mine generally - lovely stuff - I am making the real thing but it takes a minimum of 1 year before it can be considered ready to drink.

I have a small batch I made from Corn last Sept and put on American White Oak but there's only 5lt of that. I shelved the project until I had my big still up and running.

In the next few weeks I'll be making the corn mash and getting two 50lt washes going to make proper Bourbon Whisky in enough volume to make it worth while doing. That batch won't be ready until August next year and I intend to leave it all alone until Christmas.

In the meantime, 3lt of good quality neutral from sugar and a few handfuls of JD BBQ Smoking Chips in a glass jar, shake once a day for about 10 days, filter through cotton wool or a coffee filter to remove any particles then enjoy!

AM

That is an interesting observation on JD, Aidan. A couple of weeks ago I was out for drinks with a friend. I decided to have some neat Wild Turkey, formerly my daily Bourbon of Choice . I took a sip and all I could think was Ack! Heads! Spit it out! Spit it out! I could not believe how head-y and harsh it was. I tried a rum after that, which was not much better, then switched to beer. I no longer have any desire to try and replicate a commercial bourbon. My bourbon does not taste like JD or Wild Turkey or anything else and that is a Good Thing.

Chuck

I'm with you on that Chuck, it seems that these days commercial producers, of just about everything, are hellbent on maximising their profits by selling us products that (a) include crap that should have been removed during production or (b) includes crap they've added to increase the weight/volume of their product.

Either way they're trying to screw us but, in terms of what we drink, we have the answer so I take particular pleasure in the fact that they're not getting our money anymore.

Stickin' it to them.

AM

It's going WAY off topic, but I agree Aidan, one of the funniest I find is that potato products are more expensive if they've not bothered to peel them - 'rustic' mashed potato, lol. Those expensive tomatoes too where they're still attached to the vine so you're paying for the weight of that as well...

Back onto the booze though - if you get the chance, stick your nose in some cheap vodka because if you're anything like me you'll be thinking 'back in the still with that one!'

The organic vodka is an absolute pisstake jimmy.

I got a bag of JD BBQ chips delivered this morning,so i started 2 4.Lt batches,100 grams into DJ 4.ltrs 48% sweet feed whisky.going to let it sit for a couple a weeks.
alan

Opus 27 wrote:I\'ve been using Essencia Bourbon Chunks for some time now with good results on my Bourbon. My latest batch however is awful it tastes of saw dust. I shall chuck in the still with my next wash and recover the alcohol. Has anyone else had this problem?
Opus

hi opus i did use essencia burbon chips but didnt like them as you do i have been using spirits unlimited burbon sour mash oak jim beam flavoured wood chips and the same ones as jack daniels they are 199 grams a packet and when you use the jim beam chips i use 2 packets to 6 litres of spirit and leave it sit for a month sometimes 2 they are a smaller wood chip but they work really good and then flavout it with still spirits american burbon or still spirits tennisee burbon and it comes out really smooth and the longer you can leave it soak on the chips the better hope it helps out mate