All Grain Unpeated Scottish Single Malt Whisky

[Almanac]

Hey! Brian got his hair done and a nice new dress too

AM

[Keystone]

Hey! Brian got his hair done and a nice new dress too

AM

And look he's from Kansas now. Passing through Brisbane.


I put 17 L of low wines at 31% into the boiler.

[Keystone]

Update:

I collected 600 ml of fores and 900 ml of heads. I am estimating 4.4 L of hearts of which the last two jars containing 700 ml still have to evaluated for end cut after airing out. And I collected 2.7 L of tails down to about 10% before calling it quits.

The last two jars of what may be hearts have a very subtle hint of tails. With all the rum filtering today, I did not measure the ABV of these two jars to see if they fall within the 63% cut-off for a single malt.

[Keystone]

Hearts added up to 3.9 L at 74%. It's been let down to 4.7 L at 62%. Anticipated yield is 7.2 L at 40%.

I used the cut-off of about 62%. The last jar clocked in about 66% with a slight hint of tails and I figured that the low end of the evolving distillate approached 62%. There is a slight smell of tails in a sample at 40% and I am hoping that some used charred oak will help clean that up.

Any thoughts on the tails?

[Frank]

@Keystone
mate... tails, when making Scotch anyway, are truly a whole story in themselves...

All I know is the spirit run will provide 'samples' of good/not-so-good/not-good-at-all from about 60-45%ABV in a non-linear order and, even after time and tastetests, its a tough call.

So...IMHO keep the best bits only for your 'hearts' (i.e. the spirit you will be most keen on consuming after maturation 'soon')...Save the next best bits as it WONT be wasted in a future feints run for desirable Scotch flavours AND
consider that 65%ABV is the best ABV for scotch maturation, according to the experts (particularly if you are oaking on heavy toast or char oak).

(BTW, AT recommends collecting into the high 50's re %ABV as keeper...so dont lock in 62% just yet)

Good for you anyway mate, you seem well on the way to a final result you will be pleased with...that's what its all about...as far as I know

[Keystone]

Frank,

Thanks for your comments.

I have a jar at 62% which has been set aside as feints from which I took a sample and tasted at 40%. Though it had more than a hint of gym sock smell, it had strong whisky flavor.

It did not turn cloudy; but, I did see some oils at the surface.

My experience with rum on toasted oak showed that funky smells aired off after a week. I'll be adding used bourbon barrel staves to the spirit.

So, the question is: should that 62% jar which tastes great but smells a bit off be added?

[Frank]

....
So, the question is: should that 62% jar which tastes great but smells a bit off be added?

and the answer is...only you will know, mate.Its your tastebud preference afterall.
Why not set up two 'samples'?

Over time, and angels share etc, the taste will certainly outperform the smell.
I always add a touch of tails into the keeper container (ie my oak barrel)as it adds desireable flavour notes with little/no attendant probs, over time.

[Keystone]

Thanks Frank. I think I will prepare a small jar with those some of those tails, some of the "keeper" spirits and charred oak and see what happens.

[Keystone]

As an update, I ignored the unaged whisky which was stored in a glass carboy with a cork stopper until two months ago. At that time, I transferred crafted spirit to 1/2 gallon jugs, added 8 heavy toast American oak cubes per liter and fitted a cork stopper to each jug.

I aged the batch for eight weeks. Over the first couple of weeks, I noted the change in smell from white dog to more pleasant notes. Then, I reverted to ignoring the lot until done.

After removing the cubes and filtering through coffee paper, the product has the appropriate color yet crystal clear. And I am happy with the result while looking forward to see how it nuances over time.

The next project is peated malt whisky.

[Frank]

Mate a good result by the sounds of it ..well done
If you can at some stage....it might be worth trying 'less oak for longer' as a comparison to this spirit... (and I mention this based on personal findings only)

[Keystone]

Mate a good result by the sounds of it ..well done
If you can at some stage....it might be worth trying 'less oak for longer' as a comparison to this spirit... (and I mention this based on personal findings only)

I will give it a try. Thanks for your help!