Ive read of people aging spirits on several different woods. Ive tried white oak and apple (I pesonally like the best). It has me wondering, why not grape vine? OK so maybe its not a wood so to speak but I am interested in trying it.
Has anyone tried it?
Does anyone know if it is a bad idea or worse, toxic?
Ive taken some of the cuttings (pencil to finger sized) from this winter, a hand full or so and put all but one of them up to dry. The one I saved, I shaved it down to green wood and it smells sweet and alot like watermellon. I let it dry for a day. Then put one 2" piece in a small bottle with enough neutral spirit to cover it, I want to see what flavors it will impart. I took another 2", chared it and put that in some neutral. Ill do the same with more of it when its dried a few months.
I could even cut some up and put it in the boiler with neutral to see what carried over but would it taste bitter or give the boiler a perma stink ?
Any other ideas?
Salus populi suprema est lex. [L.] The safety of the people is the highest law.
Back in my boyscout days, we would put grapevine bark in our corncob pipes and smoke it.
Dosen't have anything to do with spirits, but thats what we did.
Read about it in Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn, that's where the Idea came from...young and stupid.
we used to smoke little pieces of dried grapevine stem like cigarettes... seems like I learned that from some book, but grandpa taught me not to inhale... He made wine from the mustang grapes. My dad says that wine was great.
I have had great luck with mustang grape vine as well as vine wood fron Ca. Not as distinct a flavor as applewood. But a half teaspoon of brown sugar per liter brought out more of the grape flavor.
?
At least you weren't smoking dried banana peels 
