Fixing a ridiculously over sweet whiskey?

[Beerswimmer]

So I made a bourbon 6 months ago that was 70% corn and 30% Vienna malt trying to get an extra caramelly bourbon. I also put it into an ex maple syrup barrel. And to top it off the entry proof was 55% to try to get sweetness from the barrel. Well.....it all worked. All of it. DI-A-BEETUS!!! Firstly, it smells more like maple syrup than whiskey. It tastes like "whiskey" liqueur, but sweeter and not much like bourbon at all. It's thick, and so sweet it's cloying. I need to fix this, there's no way you could drink even a half pour of this.

So my options are 1: Let it keep aging, and hope it improves. 2: Put it into another used bourbon barrel that will be available in 2 weeks and let it age, and hope that it improves. 3: blend with something that will no doubt be better, but that will kinda ruin the good stuff. Or 4: I have no idea, you tell me

5: start stocking up on insulin

[JesseMarques]

I would try this:
put this in some vessel to keep for a while.
Brew the same recipe and distill the same
add the white dog and try proportions, you may end up with something to your taste
you could also keep putting the bacth into the barrel to try extract the excessive flavor

[CopperFiend]

Ha, worst case scenario, re-run it

Or save it for blending in small quantities with batches that need more sweetness I'd say.

[Durhommer]

Save it to make blended whiskey with like copper said

[Expat]

Make a fresh batch and use it to cut the aged.

Rerunning will screw up the previous barrel effects.

[Beerswimmer]

I do have some corn, I could make some white dog and try to blend that in. Thanks, I don't know why I didn't think of that

[Expat]

Sometimes we're too close to the problem.

Though what you've got already sounds good to me. I make a maple liquor but I can never keep it in stock!

[jonnys_spirit]

Even if blending it down is too sweet you could use it as a mixer for cocktails where you’d normally use simple syrup. Macerate some fruit and call it a dirty panty dropper. Orange peels, more oak and a touch of cinnamon for a gran marnier style whiskey based liquer. What’s drambui made from?

Just some ideas!

Cheers,
Jonny

[kiwi Bruce]

So my options are 1: Let it keep aging, and hope it improves.
No it wont
2: Put it into another used bourbon barrel that will be available in 2 weeks and let it age, and hope that it improves.
Sorry again no it wont
3: blend with something that will no doubt be better, but that will kinda ruin the good stuff.
Your correct, you'll be throwing good whiskey into bad...not a sound idea
Or 4: I have no idea, you tell me
dilute it and re-run it

Dilute it and re-run it...I know it's a PITA but it's only a lose of time and not good spirits. You've done your cuts, you like your product, so you don't need to do the cuts again, so just re-run it and you'll see that most of that over powering sweetness will almost be, not noticeable.

[NZChris]

If you don't want to make it into various liqueurs, you might be stuck with having to distill it to get rid of the sugar. Maybe run it with enough fresh wash to knock the abv down to where you want it. If the brix of the backset is quite high, you could use it in the next ferment.

[SaltyStaves]

No 3 would be my choice. If you are anything like me, then sooner or later you'll make something that won't be sweet enough and requires blending out with some sweeter stocks.

[Twisted Brick]

Dilute it and re-run it...

I don't think you have to go all in and re-run all of it. Consider correcting it in stages. Mash and ferment another 70/30 batch, and:

1. Add a measured amount (by a percentage ie: 30%) of maple bourbon to the stripping run; conversely you could add a measured amount to just the spirit run; start with a conservative percentage.
2. See how that airs and cuts. Note the percentages of each contribution and the results, and adjust the percentages in a second batch accordingly.

Either test effectively reduces the contribution of perceived unwanted sweetness and after two batches you should have a better idea of how to proceed. From this exercise you will invariably learn something valuable to take forward rather than just attempting a shotgun approach and hope for the best.

[MtRainier]

I'm in the "keep it" camp where you just keep it on the shelf labeled so you know what it is and I bet down the line you can blend it with new stuff you make to get some really nice extra flavor in the new stuff.

You don't have to obey any kind of strict TTB labeling requirement so don't be too worried about making things by the book definition. Make what tastes good to you.

Also, reuse that barrel for a batch with wide cuts and see if now that you got the majority of the sugar out you'll end up with something you can keep in there for a good long time to age into something really nice.

[Setsumi]

where i am commercial Bourbon are over sweetend... i do once in a while buy elaja craigh at exhorbant price and even then it is too sweet... make an all corn mash, run high abv, make a good heart cut and blend with your too sweet run. add some dryed apricots... carefull it will add sweetnes.

[still_stirrin]

You in Canada.....eh?

Most Canadian whiskeys are blended, so you’re in the right ballpark (hockey rink?). If you’ve got another bourbon aging in oak, then try mixing samples 50/50 and see how it turns out. You may have just produced a Crown Royale Maple clone.
ss

[LWTCS]

Even if blending it down is too sweet you could use it as a mixer for cocktails where you’d normally use simple syrup. Macerate some fruit and call it a dirty panty dropper. Orange peels, more oak and a touch of cinnamon for a gran marnier style whiskey based liquer. What’s drambui made from?

Just some ideas!

Cheers,
Jonny

+1.
Though my first instinct would be to blend it back to a closer version of whiskey, this sounds like a good plan too.

I love a proper cocktail and this kind of a mixer could be a pretty special adjunct.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

I have an idea.

Once I went to a local craft distillery, and ordered a cocktail. I was hooked for a long time, as it was a whiskey based breakfast cocktail. It's called a Bootlegger's Breakfast, and it's the cocktail I reference in my Easy Large Batch mashing thread. The main ingredients? Bourbon and maple syrup.

Bootleggers Breakfast

1.5 oz Rye Bourbon (although any bourbon works well)
1.5 oz Maple Syrup (basically equals parts with bourbon, to taste)
Dash of cinnamon (I personally prefer fresh grated nutmeg)
5 oz Orange Juice (again to taste)

I put it all in a shaker with ice, strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Serve with a cinnamon stick of you like.

Seems to me blending this bourbon will be the best approach, but give this cocktail a try first. It's killer, and you may not need as much maple syrup with that bourbon (if any at all). Seems like it goes perfect for this recipe.

Lucky guy.

[LWTCS]

100% SCD!!
I bet a secondary rest in an oatmeal stout (or the like) barrel would impart some Belgian waffle notes too.

Yeah I'd be bugger'd up by 7am...

[Beerswimmer]

I think I'm going to get it out of the barrel and re-distill it with some fresh wash. I have about 4.5 gallons, better to use it in something that I might actually enjoy. What will the new wash be? Probably some oats. And I'll be keeping it white.

Thanks guys!

[Twisted Brick]

Bootleggers Breakfast

1.5 oz Rye Bourbon (although any bourbon works well)
1.5 oz Maple Syrup (basically equals parts with bourbon, to taste)
Dash of cinnamon (I personally prefer fresh grated nutmeg)
5 oz Orange Juice (again to taste)

This sounds super-delicious. Beerswimmer, please tell us you're gonna hold back a liter so you can make these.

If you used a wheater it might taste like morning pancakes in a glass. Warm the concoction in a mug and put whipped cream on top.

[jonnys_spirit]

Muddle and garnish with a couple blueberries lol!