There has been a lot of talk revolving around the the single malt category. This explainer post is an attempt to grab a snapshot of where the industry is and where it is going. If you are looking for more information about what single malt whisky is and how it differs from bourbon, check out this piece I did for Gentlemen Ranters.

Tariffs on Single Malts from U.K. took a toll on the market…

Tariffs on single malt from the Europe — which included scotch and Irish whiskeys — have put a hit on the market.

The Spirits Business reported U.S. tariffs cost the industry more than £500 million (US$682m) in lost revenues.

But how has that affected customers? Well, it depends on where you live.

The impact of the tariffs has not been felt uniformly throughout the U.S. Because of the three-tiered system of alcohol distribution, whether you noticed any difference in price or availability will depend on your state.

Pennsylvania is a control state. So, I reached out to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to find out if and how the tariffs have altered what residents are drinking.

How have pandemic shutdowns affected sales of single malts?

As we wrote before, Pennsylvanians have had a unique experience during the past 16 months when it comes to purchasing wines and distilled spirits.

Pennsylvania is a control state, which means all distilled spirits must be purchased through a state-operated Fine Wines & Good Spirits store — except for bottles purchased on-site at distilleries. As a result, customers within Pennsylvania would be forgiven for not knowing the tariff war ever started.

Shawn M. Kelly, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board was kind enough to share some sales data. It was pretty thorough. So, rather than try to incorporate it into a standard nut graf format, I’m just going to share the bulk of the email conversation here.

“Fine Wine & Good Spirits never suspended or interrupted purchases of products subject to tariffs, so the tariffs have had no meaningful impact on supply of wines and spirits in our stores. Further, most retail prices for tariff-affected products have not changed and will not change. The majority of suppliers of our most popular products subject to tariffs have been absorbing tariff costs, rather than passing them on to us and our customers.


“In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fine Wine & Good Spirits did experience a decline in Scotch sales, but that was likely caused by the closure of our brick-and-mortar stores and the suspension of e-commerce sales. Then, once we resumed e-commerce sales, because of processing capacity, we limited products available online to the top 675 items, which limited available Scotches to only the biggest brands. Once all stores reopened and unlimited online sales resumed mid-year, Scotch brands started selling again, reversing the negative trends seen in the early days.


“Excluding the time when FW&GS stores were closed in 2020, sales of Scotch increased every year since 2017. The rate of increase slowed in 2019, but it rose slightly in 2020. Both blends and single malts showed trade-up. Dollar sales increased, while units sold and 9L cases sold decreased or remained flat.“

Sales data for combined scotch category sales in Pennsylvania:

“So far in 2021, the overall trend is nearly the same, except single malt Scotch has increased more on dollars and volume compared to blended Scotch,” Shawn said.

Is Single Malt Scotch about to get cheaper?

In March, the Biden Administration lifted tariffs on UK single malts, along with cheese, cashmere and machinery. But it was only a temporary four-month pause.

Customers should not expect to see prices plummet right away. After all, import/export merchants have been eating the additional costs for over a year. They deserve a break from ultra-thin margins they’ve been forced to deal with through the pandemic.

Over the long term, prices could begin to ease and more products should begin to hit the pipeline if politicians in Washington, Brussels and London can figure a way out of the tit-for-tat situation. Right now American spirits are still suffering 25% tariffs when exporting into the E.U. Those tariffs have been squeezing American bourbon producers who would like to increase global sales. This past week the E.U. announced they would not go through with a scheduled rise to 50%.

One could imagine additional supply and demand curve stressors within America’s barrel inventory.

Will there be more Single Malt to choose from?

Probably?

The U.S. Tobacco and Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau recently ruled to allow 700mL bottles to be sold in the United States. That is a big deal because the 700mL format is the standard bottle size in the United Kingdom, European Union, Japan and much of the rest of the whiskey-loving world. A lot of special releases are sold everywhere else except for the U.S. because the expense of special packaging for export don’t outweigh the cost.

However, the PLCB said they only have one 700mL bottle in the works. In the near term, you might be able to find expensive, high-end products in the exclusive travel retail segment, like this $7,500 bottle of scotch.

We’ll have to wait and see which ones come through the line.

What is American Single Malt? 

The last edition of the ACSA magazine showed some enthusiasm for American Malts. Producers may have anticipated an opportunity as the tariffs rolled out to entice single malt scotch lovers who were being priced out of their favorite brands to try something new.

The PLCB shared the following data on the subject:

“We currently carry two Pennsylvania single malts in the American Whiskey category: Bluebird Distilling American Single Malt Whiskey 100 Proof and MLH Distillery Forefathers American Single Malt Whiskey 96 Proof. One was introduced in 2019 and the other in late 2020. They have been gaining share of the group; in 2020, they were 5.4% of sales. Year-to-date 2021, they are 13.6% of sales.

“Similar products from other states have larger shares: Colorado (55.6% for 2020; 54.4% YTD) and North Carolina (28.3% for 2020; 28.3% YTD) are the top two states.”

The Colorado whiskey mentioned is likely Stranahan’s.

Many came with a background in chemistry. Others started with a passion for distilled spirits that translated into a change in career path.

In some ways the story of Dave Harkness, owner and master distiller at Erie Distillery, parallels the story of the American economy. His distilling career is a second act following the closure of a beloved manufacturing plant in Erie, Pennsylvania, with its jobs shipped to Mexico. After losing his position as a mechanist, the idea of opening a distillery became a way to stay in his city — and be a part of the budding craft spirits scene.

“All we’re doing is striving to be the best,” Dave said. “I’m not going to put the Erie name on it if it’s not going to have my attention to quality in the bottle.”

Dave spent much of his pre-distilling career at the AMSCO — American Sterilizer Company — facility in Erie before being laid off in 2016. He used the state’s Trade Readjustment Allowance program to study for a Masters in Business Administration degree and applied to get the licenses required to open a distillery near the popular Presque Isle State Park.

Dave’s experience as a mechanist came in handy when laying out the distillery. The spirits are distilled on the 8-inch-diameter, 9-foot-tall, 9-plate column still. Using that still, Erie Distillery’s vodka easily makes it to the minimum 190-proof required for vodka production — and can blow right past it!

That stainless steel reflux column still is a major main reason Erie Distillery’s vodka has been able to shine in spirits competitions. Most recently, it won a Gold Medal in the Domestic Vodka category at the 50 Best Awards competition held in New York City.

“We’re just out winning awards,” Dave said. “My products are all 100 percent amazing. We have our gin up in New York getting judged now — I imagine that’s going to take a gold medal, too.”

Erie Distillery’s vodka is made from a 100 percent corn mash bill — allowing subtle sweetness from the grain to make it through into the finished product at 80-proof. Unlike many local craft distillers, Dave chose to focus on vodka out the gate rather than as an afterthought to drive sales while waiting for whiskey stocks to mature.

Erie Distillery Vodka

$22 online price for 750mL bottle. Shipping available in Pennsylvania.

• Appearance: Crystal clear, with more legs than most vodkas chilled at 80-proof.
• Nose: Clean and crisp like spring water over wet river stone. Hint of lemon zest.
• Palate: Pure, clean ethyl alcohol with no trace of congeners, fusel oils or methyl alcohols.
• Finish: A pleasant minerality and crisp finish.

The vodka, light whiskey and other offerings utilize active carbon charcoal filtration to clean the spirit of impurities. Other products from the distillery include their apple pie and hot pepper moonshines, Diamond Gin, limoncello — which undergoes a two-month maceration process — along with white, spiced and coconut rum offerings.

One of Dave’s most interesting products is a child of the pandemic.

Erie Distillery’s 14-year-old Light Whiskey offering was a direct after-effect of the shut-down of Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board stores in March 2020. With bars and restaurants also closed, an unplanned fluke in state law meant the only place to legally purchase spirits was through curbside pickup at the dozens of small craft distilleries sprinkled throughout the state.

As a result, Erie Distilling — like all distilleries in the commonwealth — had to get creative.

“During the pandemic —– when they closed state stores — I had a line going out the door,” Dave said. “I sold out of everything I had. I wasn’t going to have any more whiskey for at least six months.”

While it offered great exposure for his vodka — Dave said customers who hadn’t heard of him before the pandemic have switch from national brands to only drinking his product — state store closures totally depleted his barrel inventory.

Even utilizing small 10-gallon barrels to speed the maturation process for his corn whiskey, he wasn’t going to be able to meet whiskey demand without undercutting quality or disrupting sales for about six months. So, he turned to a state with hundreds of thousands of barrels to spare — Kentucky.

Erie Distilling recently sourced a 53-gallon barrel from an undisclosed Kentucky distillery, which they used to produce their light whiskey offering.

Light whiskey is an underappreciated product category in the United States. It was created in the 1968 — a time when sales of American bourbon and rye whiskeys were on the decline as consumer preferences shifted towards clear spirits like gin and vodka. To compete with lighter unaged spirits, the U.S. Tobacco and Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau allowed products labeled as ‘Light Whiskey’ to be distilled up to 190-proof and matured in used barrels. Compare this to bourbon, which must be distilled to under 160-proof and placed into new American oak barrels at under 125-proof.

“The buzz word is bourbon right now,” Dave said. “But I’d put this 14-year-old whiskey against anybody’s bourbon. We get a lot of walk-in customers who are bourbon drinkers.  Many have come back” for more of the light whiskey after trying it.

Erie Distilling’s Light Whiskey is a 14-year-old made from a corn mash bill. The result is a light, yet well-matured whiskey that in appearance and taste has more in common with a nuanced and mellow super-premium Irish whiskey bottling than the bold, in-your-face flavor often associated with the bourbon category. It will cost you about $35 for a 750mL bottle at 90-proof.

Erie Distillery Light Whiskey 14 years old

$40 online price for 750mL bottle. Shipping available in Pennsylvania.

• Appearance: In the glass, the whiskey is a light amber / chestnut color, with considerable legs at 90-proof.
• Nose: Sweet honey aromas with caramel and stone fruit.
• Palate: Light and delicate — almonds, cherry, toffee, butterscotch.
• Finish: Chocolate and baking spices.

With the worst of the pandemic hopefully behind us, Erie Distilling recently celebrated its two-year anniversary. Dave said he is looking forward to the upcoming summer.

“We survived on bottle sales, drinks-to-go and slushies all summer last year,” Dave said. “But I see things picking up already [this spring]. We’ve got a nice little sidewalk where we’ve put some chairs out. People want to get out and go hear live music. And we’re constantly working on new products — like our coffee liqueur. Our quality standards are there, so I’m confident the customers will return.”

Pennsylvania recently lifted restrictions on on-site tastings and bar service. The high-end cocktail aesthetic of his distillery’s tasting room — complete with black walnut bar and antique bar fixtures — located near Erie’s Presque Isle beach holds with it the promise of a steady stream of customers should tourism return.

Dave said he’s ready to greet them.

Editor’s Note: We plan to review the full line of products over the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more content!

When I began my journey in distilled spirits in 2013, the first major brand I worked with was Jim Beam. So when I recently had the opportunity to dust off some of my notes and write some copy about Jim Beam – and other brands – for a new website, I couldn’t have been more thrilled.

Over the past few months, I’ve been creating content for the recently launched website Gentlemen Ranters.

Going back through notes from my early career in distilled spirits marketing was an eye-opening – and cringe-worthy – experience.

I spent about six years in Washington, DC, working in various marketing and public relations positions within the beer, wine and distilled spirits space. Then, I decided to go all-in. I convinced a regional whiskey brand to take me on as a full-time distiller and moved back to Pittsburgh, Pa.

There’s nothing like diving in the deep end.

Most people come into distilling with some type of chemistry background. Up until then, my primary skillset involved writing words.

Over the next couple of years, my understanding of the distilling process grew exponentially. This is especially true of my knowledge of chemistry. I took courses at the community college and absorbed all the technical literature I could find.

The result?

Today, I’m a distiller-writer hybrid who is still looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned with anyone willing to listen. Now, there’s just an extra chem nerd vibe.

Cheers!
Aaron

Whiskey Reviews

• Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey
• Jim Beam White Label
• Evan Williams Black Label

Head-to-Head Matchups

We’ve been featuring a lot of matchups between well-known brands.

Jim Beam vs. Jack Daniel’s. Bulleit vs. Maker’s Mark. Ezra Brooks vs. Evan Williams.

Click here to view the full list of matchups.

Rather than try to do something as subjective as telling the reader which brand tastes better, the goal here was to share all the facts we could fit into the webpage in order to educate the customer to make their own choice. Hopefully its helpful to those newcomers to the category who might otherwise feel the world of whiskey might be overwhelming.

The spirits industry — like the American and global economies — has been affected by the pandemic, but in its own unique way. All across the country, the loss of on-premise sales through restaurants and bars has had a devastating effect on distilleries. In Pennsylvania, the story of distillers’ past year is a story best told in three parts.

Here’s an abbreviated review through the eyes of one Pennsylvanian distiller — me!

Early Lockdown

When Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf shut down indoor dining, gyms and other non-essential businesses, the state -run Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board also shut down all of the commonwealth’s state-run stores. Their recently launched online delivery portal also went down.

In order to keep the state-employed union workforce safe during the pandemic, the drastic step of shutting down all on-site and online sales was taken. This seemed a responsible response to a global health pandemic. But Pennsylvania is a strictly-enforced control state, so residents could not buy distilled spirits within the state’s borders.

Except, of course, at your local craft distillery.

It’s only been a decade or so since Pennsylvania distilleries won the right to on-site bottle sales, a concession that has led to the renaissance in craft distillation in the state. During the lockdown, that provision turned into a saving grace, allowing them to stay open an fulfill curbside pickup orders.

During the state store shutdown, ordering craft spirits suddenly became quite en vogue.

Products flew off the shelves. Bourbon in particular, but really anything with booze in it was being purchased online and picked up at the distillery. As essential workers — most stills in the state converted to making hand sanitizer and industrial alcohol, at least nominally, for hospital use — the majority of distillers never stopped clocking in. In fact, it got insanely busy at the distillery.

While the indoor dining and tasting operations of small craft distillers shut down, sites with kitchens could offer meals-to-go as an additional income stream.

PLCB Re-Opening

States began rolling back shut down orders in the spring and summer. But more important to the story of Pennsylvania’s barrel inventory was the reopening of the state-run Fine Wine & Good Spirits locations.

By this time Pennsylvanians’ anxieties about getting their hands on wines and spirits were through the roof. I’d love to see an economist’s supply-and-demand curve created for the pandemic months when the PLCB stores were shut down. There’s nothing like combining panic buying with a full shutdown of availability to boost sales.

It’s easy for a distiller to judge. Not only could we bring home a wide range of spirits and liquors after any shift, nearly a decade of working in the industry has left me with a fully stocked bar. But thousands of my countrymen and women found themselves suddenly working from home or without jobs and in need of some dramatic stress relief.

When neighboring governors have to take the time to outlaw out-of-state sales to anyone with a Pennsylvania ID — in the midst of a global health crisis — it’s a sign things have to change. Clerks at liquor stores along the Ohio, West Virginia, New York and New Jersey frontiers began turning away Pennsylvanians after a crush on their stores made it more difficult to enact social distancing. It was only under this type of pressure did the PLCB strike a bargain with its unions and management to get the stores back open.

As online and in-person sales slowly came back online, on-site distillery sales quickly evaporated.

What Lies Ahead

As of writing this post, Pennsylvania is again in the midst of a shut down of on-premise dining and business owners are bracing for a long, cold winter. Cold temperatures have made the idea of outdoor dining during the holidays an unpleasant, if not outright impossible, idea.

A silver lining might be the easing of some liquor restrictions in Pennsylvania. Two changes that come to mind include making it easier to purchase distilled spirits and wine online and the ability to order to-go curbside cocktails from restaurants. While temporary, it will be interesting to watch how local wineries and distilleries innovate on these fronts to find new revenue streams.

Distilleries had additional challenges during the holiday gift season — a prime selling vehicle for many craft outfits. The reduction of barrel stocks that occurred during the beginning of the pandemic, when state stores were out of commission, also made for slim picking when it came time to find mature casks for single barrel and other specialty offerings. And while the commonwealth did ease some restrictions on online delivery, customers who did not live within driving distance of their favorite craft distillery did have to put a little more effort into their purchase than when ordering presents through Amazon.
It will be interesting to see how distilleries adapt in the new year.

to replicate their production methods as methodically as we could in the riverlands of Western Pennsylvania. Traditional techniques — including four-to-six-week natural fermentation that took advantage of natural yeasts floating about the distillery, the use of local apples and double copper-pot distillations — allowed us to create a high-quality product that should appeal to whiskey fans as well as Cognac enthusiasts. 

The release party held at the distillery was the perfect opportunity to bring up the finer points of our production method and educate customers about the finer-points of Calvados production. 

[Click here to learn more about Wigle Apple Brandy.]  

It was encouraging to see customers’ willingness to try something new. Once the production quality is explained and people are able to taste the spirit, it becomes easy for them to make the connection between other quality spirits like Cognac and Armagnac.  

While the verdict is out as to whether the American consumer can be brought around to accept high-quality Applejack, Calvados and Apple Brandy as a go-to beverage of choice, it certainly is an exciting time to be following the category. And if you’d like to try some high-quality Apple Brandies, keep an eye out for some of the brands listed below. 

[Click here to learn more about Craft American Brandies.] 

A typical bourbon barrel is about 55 gallons. Surface area plays an important role in maturation. The larger the vessel, the more time it will take for the larger volume of liquid to interact with the surface of the barrel. A smaller barrel means that more flavor came come through in a shorter amount of time. The color, along with much of the flavor and aroma of the aged spirit comes from this interaction with the wood surface.[2]

This aquadynamic lesson has a reason – it helps to explain the power of a new charred oak barrel.

The first whiskey to go into this barrel was Buffalo Trace – a personal favorite based on its quality at its price point. The high-rye bourbon from Sazerac is already well aged[3] off the shelf, but it’s the perfect candidate for extra maturation.

I filled that brand new alligator-char barrel to the top and aged that whiskey for three months! I knew it was a little extreme, but you only get one shot at a new barrel – after that it’s a second-fill, third-fill, etc. I wanted to get an up-close and personal understanding of maturation.

Most Bourbons are the product of many different barrels aged for various lengths of time[4] — sometimes with slightly different mash bills. Even small batch Bourbons can have thousands of barrels blended together before bottling.

It’s common for Warehouse Managers to keep extra-mature barrels – aged for 15-25 years or longer – stowed away in a sweet spot in the rick house. This gives the Master Blender a powerful tool during the blending stage and is a common tool for those whiskey makers across sub-categories: Bourbon, blended and Single Malt Scotch, blended and Single Pot Irish and Single Malt and blended Japanese whiskies.

The whiskey that came out of my small barrel was dark – tobacco spittoon black – and had the deep, rich tobacco flavor. It is intense on its own.

Nose: oak, butter scotch and caramel, tobacco leaf.
Tongue: molasses, tobacco leaf, black pepper, almonds, rye.
Finish: honey, stone fruit cherry, lingering rye notes.

When mixed with other, under-aged spirits, this whiskey gives a dark complexity and lingering finish to the final product.

At the writing oft his post, this inaugural whiskey was at the end it’s lifespan. But fear not! This last little swallow will live on. I’m blending the last 4 ounces into the Wild Turkey 101 that has been in the barrel for two months now.

Viva l’esprit!

[1] Char describes the level of flame the inside of the barrel gets. No. 1 is the next level up from toasted – less exposure to flame means very little charcoal on the wood. Four is the most active char – the inside is charred like a piece of burnt wood, and the bumpy dark wood appearance gives it the Alligator nickname.

[2] It does not mean that spirit aged in a smaller barrel matures ‘faster’ than in large barrel. The smaller barrel’s surface area means more interaction with the red char layer, but the liquid tends to pick up wilder notes without the complexity found in longer aged spirits. Be wary of claims.

[3] The company does not publicly disclose its age but many guess it’s aged for 3-5 years.

[4] Aged statements denote the youngest barrel in the bottle. Often there are component whiskeys that are aged much longer.

In the past, Bodacious Booze has written about specialty cocktail lists to make guests feel at home while entertaining. It has also described how enthusiasts can create unique spirits and cocktails without defying federal distillation laws through the use of small barrels and vatting. While it may be illegal to put up a still in the back yard, anyone can turn their personal bar into a mixology lab and barrel house.

Today’s post will explore how to combine elements of these previous lessons to create one-of-a-kind gifts for the cocktail enthusiasts in your life.

*Please forgive my Blender’s Notes and implements. 

Recently, a friend and fellow Bourbon lover had a going-away party. He and his wife have been very close to me since college, so the news that they were moving to Florida hit me hard. I wanted to do something special for them and decided that a limited-release whiskey would do the trick.

While I would love to be able to gift-wrap a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Macallan M or Pappy Van Winkle, I simply do not have the means. But I do have a collection of pretty impressive whiskey offerings. Many of these have undergone unique finishing techniques in my mini-barrel and others I have acquired through my travels and are unavailable in the U.S.

By blending some of my top whiskies, I was able to come up with a truly unique product that cannot be find anywhere else on the planet. What’s better is that I could write a personal label that has special meaning to the both of us.

*Note: While “International Blended Whiskey” is not a category recognized by the TTB, I believe you could get away with this label in the U.S. – if you were licensed to sell this product.

As you can see by the picture of the back label, this blend is unlike anything that could be found at the local liquor outlet. It includes two whiskies that have undergone unique finishes: Evan Williams Bourbon Black Label that spent a few weeks finishing in the barrel after it was used to mature Manhattan Cocktails and Dewar’s Blended Scotch that was finished in the barrel after Sherry had rested inside. In addition, the blend has two travel exclusives — Suntory Blended Japanese Whisky and Glen Breton Rare Single Malt Canadian Whisky – meaning they cannot be purchased in the U.S.

*The back label. Click here to see a list of composite whiskeys.

The gift went over well. My friend really liked the bottle and it kicked off a wonderful whiskey conversation.

In fact, can you keep a secret?

I am going to share another spirit bottling at my friend’s birthday party this weekend. Currently in the barrel rests a specialty Reposado Tequila. This tequila is a blend of El Jimador 100% Agave Reposado and Sauza Conmemorativo 100% Agave Añejo Tequilas. Before pouring in the tequila, Port wine matured in the cask for three+ weeks[1].

I showcased this product – straight from the barrel – at a recent party I hosted. It was a huge hit. The slightly pink color gives it a playful appearance. But make no mistake, this is a grown-up tequila. It has a wonder bouquet of agave, cherries and oak notes. Complex and smooth, the flavor features spicy-floral agave notes mixing with fruity sherry notes and a slight bourbon-like influence from the extra oak.

It’s nice coming to a birthday party with a gift that you already know the recipient is going to love. The downside of writing a blog is that sharing this secret with readers means the surprise might be ruined.

Oh well, hope he’s a good sport.

* Happy Birthday J.P.P.!

[1] Note: Each time a liquid goes inside it the barrel loses some of its “charge,” meaning it takes longer for the subsequent liquid to receive the same maturation influence. This has its benefits. Older barrels give off more balanced notes. Over-maturation which can be a problem with smaller barrels.

According to the O’Begley Website, the distillation of their spirit is conducted in custom-built stills re-purposed from other industrial materials. According to the label, the word “Dubh” means black in the Irish Gaelic language. The label also mentions the used of charred oak and boasts a mash of 75% New York-grown unmalted barley, 15% malted barley from Pioneer Malting in Rochester and 10% Oats. It also describes the fermentation in detail: 10 days at 77 degrees Fahrenheit using ale yeast of the Fermentitis US-05 strain.

Credit should be given to the proprietors of O’Begley for the clear and concise labeling information. It is a whiskey-fanatic’s dream and perfectly in-tune with what customers are demanding in the current marketplace.

The mashbill harks of Irish Single Pot Still Whiskey, but the dram is much more complex. The small amount of oats give the whiskey a dark and dusky flavor, and the dark color hints at the charred oak influence. I do not know how many times the liquid was distilled nor how long it was aged. It was bottled at 121-proof.

Color: Deep mohogany.

Nose: Ale. Malt. Heavy caramel. Rum/Molasses.

Tongue: Malt. Vanilla. Maple Syrup. Caramel. Coffee. Herbal, spearmint. Very complicated and complex.

Finish: Cedar. Anise. Rubber. Spicy. Lingering, thick molasses.

This is a funky, weird and wonderful dram. I can honestly say I have never had anything like it. Not a whisper or rye anywhere and too complex to be a Single Malt. Quite strong on its own, it is delicious with a splash of ginger ale or ginger beer.

While wine and beer lovers are able to pursue their craft by fermenting beverages for themselves, it is a bit harder for aficionados of whiskey and other spirits. Partially due to the fact that the distillation practice is incredibly explosive and because improper cut-points can lead to methane poisoning and blindness, the federal Government frowns upon back-yard stills.

So while the role of amateur distiller is out of reach for all but a very luck (or outlaw) few, there is a realm of the whiskey-making process in which we can all partake – that of maturation and blending.

Small casks are available online from about $40 and used barrels can run into the hundreds of dollars for full-seized used whiskey and beer barrels. While an earlier article described how enthusiasts can partake in blending as a hobby to hone their nosing and tasting skills, this article will explore maturation – another important piece in whiskey-making puzzle.

1 liter barrels are mostly used as decorative pieces, but I decided to take one for a spin after receiving it as a birthday gift from my sister.

The smaller the barrel, the less time it takes to impact the liquid and the more dramatic the outcome. That is because smaller barrels have more surface area that is in contact with the spirit on a per-volume basis. You can see how powerful new wood is by comparing regular tap water with the oaked water after only 4 days. Each charge in a barrel get successively less powerful.

Small craft distilleries use small casks in order to reduce the time they spend maturing the product to get it to market faster. The drawback is that it makes it much harder to get consistent results – complicated by the fact that less barrels are used in the blending process. The really deep and complex notes that come out of the wood with extra-long maturation – say 10 – 25 years – aren’t available because the flavors are likely to get too intense in a small barrel if they were allowed to age that long.

Bartenders have also taken advantage of small casks in order to mature cocktails to give them extra character and flavors. I took a page out of each playbook in my approach to begin my barrel-aging journey.

Before the first fill, the cask’s instructions suggested filling it with water in order to soak the barrel staves. This is important because the dry barrel isn’t’ water-tight. Woe to the person who fills their first barrel with spirit. A lot of water poured through the wood. With full-sized barrels in a distillery, the amount perhaps isn’t bad considering 55 gallon go in at much higher proof. But here, a considerable amount of spirit would have escaped through the gaps between staves before they soaked-up some water and expanded.

After soaking the staves, the first thig I decided to place in the barrel was a Manhattan cocktail created with Jim Beam Rye, Rittenhouse Rye, Martini & Rossi Sweet Red Vermouth and Angostura Bitters. After placing about 750 ml of the cocktail in the barrel, I tasted it each day while also rotating the barrel to increase the surface area and keep the wood conditioned. It was quite a learning experience to see how the liquid changed inside the barrel. After 10 days, the cocktail showed signs of becoming over-oaked, so I took it out of the barrel. Placing the cocktail in a glass vessel in the refrigerator allowed me to stop maturation and keep the cocktail icy-cold for when I entertain company. I am unsure of how long the cocktail will stay in the refrigerator. The danger is the red vermouth – which in actuality is a wine. While spirits can stay in the same state almost indefinitely under the right conditions because of the preservative powers of the high-alcohol content, diluting the rye with vermouth and bitters makes me a little uneasy. However, at 90 and 100 proof, Jim Beam and Rittenhouse rye whiskies, respectively, hopefully have high enough spirit-proof to keep the Manhattans tasting smooth and delicious for months and months to come.

It is important to keep the barrel staves from becoming dry. Dry staves can lead to gaps and leaky barrels. In order to take advantage of the uniquely sweet-and-spicy notes left from the Manhattan, I decided to put in a bourbon whiskey to add complexity. I chose Evan Williams for no other reason that it was the cheapest 750 ml bottle available in my local spirit shop. I went with an inexpensive brand so that I didn’t destroy an already premium-aged product.

After about two weeks, the Evan Williams was noticeably more mature. The nose is amazing – although the tongue had not quite caught up – another problem with small barrels. However, the finished product was much improved over the purchased Black Label.

Finally, to be able to distinguish from a regular bottle of Black Label (and to show off to my friends), I created a new specialty label using InDesign software. Now, you can easily see the bottle contains a special one-of-a-kind offering of The Manhattan Project Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey finished in previously-used Manhattan cocktail barrels. After all, how often can you truthfully say you have a truly unique one-of-a-kind offering on your bar that is available nowhere else in the world?

So, when I recently had some friends over to root on my alma mater West Virginia University and their Men’s Basketball team for the last regular season game, you better believe that the Mountaineers were featured prominently.

With March Madness coming up, a custom cocktail menu is the perfect way to add a little home-team pep to your party. They don’t take much time, and it’s a perfect way to showcase what you have in your home bar — from special bottlings to stuff you’re trying to get rid of… Just like a real bar!

Full PDF Click: Mountaineer_Menu