StillSmart

From what I have read it\'s to do with contact area. The higer the ratio of barrel to spirit the quicker it will \'age\', and the quicker it will \'use up\' what the barrel has to offer. But once the spirit is aged I can bottle it and use the barrel again. this time leaving the spirit for longer etc etc.
I think a gallon of spirit put to one side is plenty in my book - it doesn\'t get used that quickly!
They aren\'t allowed (by US law) to re-use bourbon barrels.

Wiki on Bourbon

The barrel arrived and it looked generally quite rough but the bottom line is it\'s for rum so it kind of looks authentic if you see what I mean.
The seller was great, packed it well etc but I\'ve run into a bit of a problem with it. The rough finish extended to the filling hole that hasn\'t been cut with any degree of accuracy. If I try to recut the whole I\'m going to end up with a load of sawdust/jagged edges in the barrel that would be a nightmare to sort out. Whilst this isn\'t that much of a problem it means that air can get into the barrel. It can get in the barrel as the tap isn\'t very good and despite me stripping the tap, cleaning it and re-tightening it I have a constant drip from it.
On it\'s own either one of these problems would be ok - if the tap didn\'t drip then that would be ok. I thought to get round this I could stand the barrel on the end that hasn\'t got the tap but when I do then the contents come out from the bung...
Bit disappointed that I\'m going to have to replace the tap...
Oh well, I\'ve got a batch of essencia rum in the barrel so fingers crossed it improves the taste enough to make the hassle worthwhile!

foRUM warrior wrote:looks good there mate, i have had some excellent results from the one i bought [url=http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=315], though a brass tap on yours dose sound better than mine, but so far mine has not leaked

It's best to stick with a wooden tap as wood is of course self sealing when it's damp. A brass tap will however have a rubber or silicone washer in it. If you must use a brass tap remove the rubber or silicon washer and replace with a felt fibre washer.