Post #735598 by AdOrAdam on Tue, Jan 20, 2015 3:02 PM

Hi all

"I have got my hands on a barrel & Im ready to go!"

That's what I should have said 2 weeks ago - Im a bit late to posting what I've been up to :)

I thought Id document the process for fellow TC'ers

So I got a barrel:

I filled it with water & left it for 24 hours. Then I turned it over & left it another 24 hours. There was some leakage in the first 12 hours of each side but it stopped pretty quickly.

In preparation I picked up some supermarket 'better than average' sherry:

I chose that one mainly to try it out as alternative to Bristol Cream sherry as recommended in an article I saw about the Fog Cutter.

I emptied the water & re filled the barrel with the sherry (I kept a little for comparison). I sampled the water:

As you can see it gained a white wine colour but it tasted slightly smokey.

Its been 2 weeks now, going from the tips on the Master Of Malt website, it's good to be filled with the intended end product.

I think Im going to fill it with a spiced rum Im making- Im not a big spiced rum drinker so the choice is partly because I think I'll have a patience to let it age!

Also I picked up a home ageing kit:

The kit has 2 ageing sticks - Im thinking you can use them more than once but the effects will diminish (but you just leave the stick in for longer).

I figure the contents should be spirits & liquors (i.e. not fruit juices or sweetners) but would think blending the rums used in a particular cocktail would have an effect.

I'm not short on ideas but thought I'd open it up to debate, my ideas were either:

• a mai tai rum combo
• a navy grog rum combo
• a regular rum
• a whiskey old fashioned

I lean towards rum or whiskey over 'classic cocktails' with other spirits (like the Martinez or Negroni), any other suggestions?