My experience with oak and aging

[Texas Jim]

I had some new make 80% corn - great flavors. So I put it in a bottle with some charred oak cubes and stuck it in the cabinet. Well, I’d taste it periodically, and I noticed that it had lost all its taste. Still smooth, but the flavor came and went very quickly. So I mixed it 50/50 with some new make. All the flavors came back!

The only thing I can figure is that the char acted like activated charcoal and cleaned the flavors out?

Anyway, just my $0.02. I’ll stick with more toasted and less charred oak I think.

[brat]

From what I experienced is that corn flavor dissipates when aging all that's left behind is the sweetest. What other grains did you use besides corn? Normally that's what leaves the flavor behind.

[Texas Jim]

From what I experienced is that corn flavor dissipates when aging all that's left behind is the sweetest. What other grains did you use besides corn? Normally that's what leaves the flavor behind.

12.5% barley 7% rye.

My wife likes the new make better. Maybe I’ll keep it that way.

[brat]

You'll get some nice flavor. Just give it time. I noticed the same thing. But then I just left it alone for a year. And then I had some great flavor going on.

[corene1]

A lot of time how we make the cuts and blend the finished spirit will determine how the oak interacts with the spirit over time. When I first started I made very tight cuts with no heads or tails in my aged spirit. It did the same as you are talking about, very smooth but a bit lacking in character. As time went on I discovered that adding some late heads and early tails to the blend made a better tasting whisky over a longer aging process.

[Oldvine Zin]

corene

OVZ

[Texas Jim]

A lot of time how we make the cuts and blend the finished spirit will determine how the oak interacts with the spirit over time. When I first started I made very tight cuts with no heads or tails in my aged spirit. It did the same as you are talking about, very smooth but a bit lacking in character. As time went on I discovered that adding some late heads and early tails to the blend made a better tasting whisky over a longer aging process.

I am making wider cuts on this current batch hoping to add back some character. Thanks.

[Boda Getta]

What proof was the new make when you added the cubes?; + 1 to the poster concerning needing some late heads in the cut and also there of favor in the tails. Many of us here make our charring sticks. Hunt up some well seasoned white oak, split it small enough to fit into the jug, toast it in the oven, then give it a good char. I've had better luck with the home made charred sticks than the store bought ones. Be careful and keep a good check on it; it's easy to over-char in a gal jug.
Good luck.

BG

[Texas Jim]

What proof was the new make when you added the cubes?; + 1 to the poster concerning needing some late heads in the cut and also there of favor in the tails. Many of us here make our charring sticks. Hunt up some well seasoned white oak, split it small enough to fit into the jug, toast it in the oven, then give it a good char. I've had better luck with the home made charred sticks than the store bought ones. Be careful and keep a good check on it; it's easy to over-char in a gal jug.
Good luck.

BG

New make was 63% abv when I added the cubes (storebought). I left them in the bottle for a year, and just recently strained the liquid off and threw away the cubes.

If I go this route again, I think I'll stick with the toasted, rather than charred cubes.

[OtisT]

If I go this route again, I think I'll stick with the toasted, rather than charred cubes.

I hear ya, about sticking with un-charred sticks. I really like some spirits aged with toasted wood that is not charred. Charred is OK too, but not for everything.

I also had bad luck early on with charred sticks, and I made some really bad tasting stuff. I think it was the gas and/or method I used that led to my poor results. It took a while but I have since figured out a method that give me the results I like.

Method: My first few experiments were made with torches I use for soldering. It took time to get from one end of the stick to the other, and that was just one side, so I would flip and go at it again. I tried dousing after one side, or after all sides. No matter the method, I was getting very inconsistent levels of char on one stick and from stick to stick.

Gas: I don’t think all torches and/or gas type leave a clean taste. This may be because I’ve not tuned the torch proper to burn off all the fuel before flames hit my wood. Also, with smaller torches you need to get kinda close and that may contribute to the gas issue by being too close.

I finally found charring success with a good ol’ propane gas Flame Thrower. ($20 at harbor freight.) It hooks up to the propane tank I use for my BBQ. With the big flames I am farther back from the wood, which may give ample space for all the gas to burn off. (Just speculating here, but I don’t have any bad gas smells when I’m done.) also, the flames thrown cover a big area, so when I do sticks I stack a dozen or more all together and hit the lot with one 25-30 second burst, then douse them with water immediately. For lots of char, I may flip the sticks over and char the opposite side. I also char barrel heads with the flame thrower, just 30-40 seconds for the entire head.

For me this method seems to work great. I get a consistant deep char and no bad tastes.

Best of luck to ya.

Otis