my cheatin art

[blind drunk]

... will make you weep!

I have some pretty good modified UJSM and thought I'd play around with it to get it to taste more "aged" than it really is. I started with toasted and charred oak and after a month or so I added 1/2 of a good quality vanilla bean per 3 liters of likker (roughly). That took real nice so I thought about it an added some creamed sherry dregs and some old port we had kicking around, about 1 tablespoon of each per 3 liter jug. Finally I added some pieces of orange zest without any of the pith. Orange is powerful so I used a little at a time and kept adding till I got it right (add a little, wait a week, add a little more etc.) I also added a 1/4 crushed vitamin C tablet per jar in the hope that it would speed up the oxidation process (like that Professor said). Hard to know if this is doing anything.

4 months in and it's tasting like a blend between a smokey bourbon grand marnier brandy. As I get more stuff to age I'll let it develop "naturally," but for now I really like this outcome. Just thought I'd pass it along. It's got a great nose and the flavors are subtle and deep.

Cheers, bd.

[blanikdog]

Sherry is handy stuff, although I've not used orange zest.......................................yet.

That isn't cheating either, it's a part of the art.

blanik

[Barney Fife]

I add 2 teaspoons of cream sherry per 1/2 gallon of aging single malt. Also add about a teaspoon of cracked black pepper for a little heat on the tongue, which for me, makes the flavors linger much longer. This has fooled everyone who's had some as a Irish whiskey. Without the sherry, it's just a good whiskey, but very "generic" tasting. The sherry is what was missing!

[Tater]

Peppercorns are a handy ingredient. I use them in white and charred likker.Its amazing what a few will do for Bourbon type likkers or rye kept white.Ill sometimes even add a few to rum.