StillSmart

With particular reference to making whisky/whiskey.... I have read 'elsewhere' that, after an oak soak (@65% being my maturation ABV), it is advisable/necessary to dilute the spirit to 'drinking' ABV % slowly, over time and in a number of small dilutions in order to maximise the overall quality of the quaff.

I was wondering what experience forum folk may have regarding this please. (especially re any comparative testing).

It really depends on what your definition of drinking abv is? For Whiskey I always aim to achieve an abv of 74%. Drinking Whiskey at 40% is a disappointment. Before 1967 the abv for Bushmills Malt was 63% the abv for McKibbins Rum was 77% These spirits are still made but only for export. It's strange that to get a bottle of 63% Bush made a few miles up the road I have to order it from Spain or even the USA!!! At 60%abv I would keep your whiskey just as it is. If it's too strong for some they can always commit sacrilege and add water, ice is slightly less evil.

I am surprised you have any taste buds left.

Most tasters dilute even 40% ABV spirits to get the true taste. anything else just numbs your mouth.

I would not recomend to anyone reading to try drinking spirits at these strengths, or even keep them arounds where uneducated people may get hold of them and do themselves damage.

YHB wrote:I am surprised you have any taste buds left.

Most tasters dilute even 40% ABV spirits to get the true taste. anything else just numbs your mouth.

I would not recomend to anyone reading to try drinking spirits at these strengths, or even keep them arounds where uneducated people may get hold of them and do themselves damage.

Perhaps you should write to the Bushmills Distillery and tell them they've been making their most prized and most awarded whiskey [Bushmills Natural Cask Strength 60%ABV} wrong all these years! It's as smooth as a baby's arse as is most Irish Whiskey that has gone through the still three times. That harsh burning you describe is the product of poor distillation. A properly distilled
whiskey in the 60-75%abv range is very strong but it creates a beautiful warmth {not unlike the heat produced by a shot morphine!] that will i]not[/i]
burn your mouth or cheeks. If you want some proof I can arrange to send you some!

Thanks for the offer of the whiskey but no thanks, I know my limitations.

I do not intend as you suggest to write to Bushmills and tell them that they are making their whiskey incorrectly, they have been making it long enough to know what they are doing. If you can afford their product and enjoy it then I am very happy for you.

This is a forum for home distillers most of which have limited experience and resources and I would think that very few readers are capable of producing an enjoyable 74% ABV Whiskey that can be drunk safely.

FTR, in my original post, I meant to reference an endpoint ABV% in accordance with typical drinking ABV% for scotch. This tends to be, in my experience, between 40%ABV (this is the typical strength preferred by most 'mass-producers' for the marketplace) and around 48-53%ABV (this being typical of the range for those special barrel/cask strength releases favoured by the more 'artisan' distilleries). I am comfortable with bottling at either 'level' for home use and sharing ....and I would never personally condone unsafe drinking practices; either amongst guests or on webforums

Anyway (blah blah)......my enquiry here related, simply, to diluting spirit per se and the optimal method to do so.....and I apologise if the wording above was overly ambiguous.

Frank wrote:FTR, in my original post, I meant to reference an endpoint ABV% in accordance with typical drinking ABV% for scotch. This tends to be, in my experience, between 40%ABV (this is the typical strength preferred by most 'mass-producers' for the marketplace) and around 48-53%ABV (this being typical of the range for those special barrel/cask strength releases favoured by the more 'artisan' distilleries). I am comfortable with bottling at either 'level' for home use and sharing ....and I would never personally condone unsafe drinking practices; either amongst guests or on webforums

Anyway (blah blah)......my enquiry here related, simply, to diluting spirit per se and the optimal method to do so.....and I apologise if the wording above was overly ambiguous.

In the UK a new legislation was introduced in 1967 to increase the duty paid on spirits with a abv higher than 43%. Predictably to avoid this extra duty most distilleries reduced their abv to 40%. This reduction however saw a massive increase in the public buying "doubles" for the same "kick". It also meant that the HMRC were collecting "double" the duty for exactly the same amount of alcohol as sold before! What a f**king rip off. I have listed below a few standard pre 67 abv ratings for well known spirits.
Smirnoff 67%
Bells 63%
Black Bush 63%
McKibbins Dark Rum 74%
Dimple Scotch 70%
Gordon's 54%
I have tried three of the above spirits at the abv they were originally distilled for and I can tell you the alcohol content plays a huge part in the whole character and flavour of the drink. McKibbins becomes an entirely different experience the alcohol opening the flavours up not masking or hiding them. The higher alcohol content stimulates the olfactory receptors in the nose making flavours and smells more intense!

YHB wrote:Thanks for the offer of the whiskey but no thanks, I know my limitations.

I do not intend as you suggest to write to Bushmills and tell them that they are making their whiskey incorrectly, they have been making it long enough to know what they are doing. If you can afford their product and enjoy it then I am very happy for you.

This is a forum for home distillers most of which have limited experience and resources and I would think that very few readers are capable of producing an enjoyable 74% ABV Whiskey that can be drunk safely.

I yield to your points. There are many factors in producing a drinkable and enjoyable high strength whiskey and as you have pointed out experience is probably the most important.

I wonder how the higher strengths affect the flavours as the extraction from Oak is different at different ABV strengths. It would be interesting to try some of these and see. I would expect a different character than the same thing barrelled at a lower ABV. Alas, I won't be finding them in Canada.

Chuck

chill wrote:I wonder how the higher strengths affect the flavours as the extraction from Oak is different at different ABV strengths. It would be interesting to try some of these and see. I would expect a different character than the same thing barrelled at a lower ABV. Alas, I won't be finding them in Canada.

Chuck

I have found that aging at different strengths gives different results. This is influenced by the type of oak as well.
At 65% I would expect to extract vanilla tones, whereas at 50 - 55% it is predominantly sweet and fruity. As the ABV drops you can expect a more woody (oak ) note.

If you want to get more complexity to your hooch, start at 65% for a few months, then dilute to 50% for a few more. When you can't resist the call of the bottle any longer, knock it down to "bottle strength" (usually 40%) for a few weeks and remove the oak.
Na zdravje!

scarecrow

Scarecrow wrote: "Na zdravje!!"

Me too!

AM