Rum oils and long term aging

[SouthTexasShine]

I've made about 4 gallons of rum, using my 15.5 gallon keg and 7.5 gallon thumper. I have been brutal with heads and tails, throwing then in the thumper for the next run. At this point I have about 3 pints of white rum oils that will go back in to the next run. Here is my question, the hearts I've saved have a good rum flavor and smell, but not the depth I'm wanting. I want to get to 7.5 gallons at 68% and age it for between 6 and 24 months in a pony keg with a piece of used barrel stave that has been charred on all sides. Would it make sense to add a goodly amount of the rum oils to this batch for mid to long term aging. I'm looking for a heavy rum, not a Bacardi silver clone.

Thanks
STS

[Badmotivator]

One thing that jumped out at me is that you plan on using a charred stave. I only know of one commercial rum that uses charred barrels, Pusser's. There may be more, I just don't know. Believe it or not, I think can taste the char when I drink Pusser's.

If you were to make barrels like the ones in my sig you could try four different approaches and age them as long as you like. Toasted wood, charred wood, toasted with oils, charred with oils.

[der wo]

I only know of one commercial rum that uses charred barrels, Pusser's. There may be more, I just don't know.

The most Rums are aged in ex-bourbon barrels, which are charred. The special thing of Pusser's is, that they use potstills with wooden boilers. Perhaps you confuse this?

[Badmotivator]

Actually, nevermind about the charring. It's more common than I thought. Maybe even universal. Sorry.
http://www.ministryofrum.com/article_age_matters.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
http://handselectedspirits.com/zaya-product.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow (skip to "The Barrels")
http://www.foodepedia.co.uk/booze/2010/ ... _story.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Badmotivator]

The special thing of Pusser's is, that they use potstills with wooden boilers. Perhaps you confuse this?

Yup.

[SouthTexasShine]

I won a 43 gallon whiskey barrel in a contest, but by the time I got it the staves had dried to the point it was falling apart. I've been using pieces for aging. I was thinking of charring based on this site. http://www.ministryofrum.com/article_age_matters.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Some Caribbean spirits are bottled directly from the still, but most distillers age a portion of their rum in oak barrels that were previously used to age whisky or bourbon in the U.S. or Canada. A small number of rum barrels come from Europe where they aged Scotch whisky, Cognac or, in a few cases, sherry. Before these barrels were filled with other spirits, the inside surface of the barrel staves were charred. Some rum distillers scrape the original char from the barrels and then fill them with rum to be aged. Others rechar the barrels, while a few distilleries simply refill the once-used barrels with their rum. In a handful of cases, new barrels are charred over a wood fire to avoid contamination from the hydrocarbon residue of a gas fire.
That and I prefer the taste that a char has on whiskey or rum.
We where typing at the same time.

[SouthTexasShine]

Back to the question, does it make sense to go heavy on the rum oils for a batch I'm putting up for long term aging.

[DarkKnightCW]

I read in a post on this site that the more pure the spirit (more diligent your cuts) the better the final product after aging. Also added to the understanding that the purer the spirit at say taken at 80% and then diluted to 60-65% lends to less need for longer term aging. I may not understand the question, but it sounds like you may be creating the need to age longer by adding oils back after separating them out?

[Pesty]

Found a way to get good scotch taste into my rums. I soak all of my oak spirals in a bottle of 18 yr old scotch then drop em into the rum for aging.

[Antler24]

I read in a post on this site that the more pure the spirit (more diligent your cuts) the better the final product after aging. Also added to the understanding that the purer the spirit at say taken at 80% and then diluted to 60-65% lends to less need for longer term aging. I may not understand the question, but it sounds like you may be creating the need to age longer by adding oils back after separating them out?

Everything I've read on here says the opposite. For a white spirit you'll consume soon tight cuts are a must. The longer you intend to age it the farther you can go into the tails which will mellow over time and give more character to the final product. I even read something here along the lines of someone making strict cuts and only using the best of the hearts to put on oak. He sat on it for a couple years only to discover it had become "too mellow" and "no character".

[NZChris]

It isn't rum oils that make a heavy rum. To get hogo you need to delve into the world of dunder pits, muck holes, trash cisterns etc..