StillSmart

I am planning on making some whiskey for the first time.
I will be mashing this weekend but want to plan for what I am going to do after I have distilled.

I will be aging on Oak, but I have no idea what to get - or how much.

Since Oak Domino's seem to be better than chips, this is what I am intending to buy - but, there seems so much choice. What would be a good oak to start with?

Many thanks,

@PoP: At the end of the day it comes down to the taste you prefer. e.g. I use a light toast for my Cachaca, but a heavy toast for my Navy Rum. All the oak is American white oak.

Okay, thanks. Guess I'll just have to try it and see what I like :-)

Have a look at the types of oak here, they do a good job trying to describe the tastes of each type of wood / toast.

https://www.stilldragon.eu/en/22-oak-wood-products

Just read the descriptions until your mouth starts to water and get that one.

Had a look at the still dragon. Unfortunately there is a €50 minimum, which is more than I wanted to spend.

I've found Distilling Dominoes in the UK and have ordered some from there.

Does maturing at 65% produce a better result or would 40% still work?

I believe the general opinion is to age at higher ABVs.
40% does work,before I knew more,that is what I did.
I am unsure if it is that higher ABVs speed up the process.
Some even start high and gradually dilute whilst aging.
Robert

Guess I will see how much product I end up with and decide from there :-)
Thanks all for the advice. Helpful as always

PieOPah wrote:Had a look at the still dragon. Unfortunately there is a €50 minimum, which is more than I wanted to spend.

Good news, @PieOPah, we were just able to bring down shipping costs by 10 EUR excl. VAT (= 12 EUR incl. VAT) each parcel size and eliminate the minimum order amount.

No advertising intended, but we just love our oak and made some extensive testing on all types we offer, have a look at the full report here.

PieOPah wrote:Does maturing at 65% produce a better result or would 40% still work?

40 will work, but 65 will work better.

I'll have a look for next time. I did like the look of some of the profiles :-)
If the minimum order value has gone then you may have a new customer...

I recently used some of StillDragon's 'American Oak No.1 Mini Staves' to age some cask strength (65%abv) liquor.

Their recommendation is 5 – 20 grams per litre for a period of more than four weeks.

This is a wide spread of dosage level together with an open ended period for maturation.

I used 20 grams per litre and have currently left it for over four weeks. (Just.)

The colour, at cask strength appears satisfactory but, on dilution to 40% abv any colour is hardly discernible.

It would seem that the advice should read at least 20 grams per litre for an indefinite period of time.

Quite a disappointment I feel.

We recommend 5 - 20 g per litre, because people also re-age already oak aged products with it, for example, if you have a barrel aged product, and want it to have the perfect last touch, it would not make sense to give the full 20g blast.

As we recommend on the shop also: it is all personal taste. Some of my distillers did use only 5 g per litre and were more than happy, others did only use one stick with abaut 20g for one litre and they were happy too, others had ot try a bit, to find their perfect mixture.

Suber Lefort ist the producer of our oak products, as I also said in our wood thread in the StillDragon forum, they are so skilled in what they do, if you want to have them made a special flavor- they can do it, just by choosing the right wood, the right toasting and the right blending. This Distiller's Edition was made for us spirits people, the American Oak N.1 mimics a real barrel (typically like those used for American whisky) that was it's purpose.


Now to the lenght of ageing:

PLEASE DO NOT LET IT SIT "INDEFINITE TIME"4 - 5 weeks is recommended, more would not bring out the flavor like they were supposed to be, less does not do the trick. It is natural wood with real toasting, it needs that time to solve the flavors in the spirit. I personally recommend aging without the wood after the wood treatening, it smoothes the product and makes it feel more complexe, and the colour darkens too.
American Oak N.1 is one variety, that has a light golden colour, like most of the typical whisky products of average US white oak barrels. It is our best sold oak product.

It is all about finding out, what you like best. It is not like you cook a paper bag soup with strict timing, it is all about experimenting with the spirits how they take on the flavors and tasting to find the point, when you are happy with the result.

P.S. the rigth tasting glass gives a completely new side to the taste. Try different glasses, you will see...

https://www.stilldragon.org/discussion/ ... oak-trials
https://www.stilldragon.org/discussion/ ... ment_20709

I zapped some 65% grain spirit in the microwave to 60oC and added one mini stave of French Oak and after just 24 hours it's already showing good colour and flavour development.

I'm liking the look of this product.

AM

I age at 40% ABV for several reasons. One of the most important being that the rate of evaporation is higher at the high temperatures we experience here.

When I nuke a spirit at 65% I seal it in a Kilner jar with a vacuum lid and when the spirit cools the air inside contracts forming a vacuum preventing evaporation then dilute to 40% et Violla! Whisky

AM