Blending for aging

[ct1870]

I Have finished a spirit run of ujssm. The low wins were 40% ran off the heads slow and easy. I started collecting hearts at 79 to 80%. Ran down to 60%. tails seemed to stArt comming over under that. I had 2 copper scubbers in my collumn. Collected tails down to 20%. Seperated tails in 3 quart jars 50% 40 and 30%. Now I have let air out over the past few days. I set 2 jars of center hearts out to drink and have some that I am wanting to blend. I mix some 76% with some 40% tails it does not have a bad cardboard smell but some oils and cloudiness is there. I filtered the 40%. Tails. After blending the drink is very smooth and has a good tast. Does anyone blend off of % gs and what are your experiences. Just trying to get a better feel of blend. I know it is personal taste but I would like to get others to express their thoughts and experiences of blending. This is one of the most important parts of making a good drink. If I can make a damn good white dog it will only improve with aging on oak

[blind drunk]

I've never used abv % to blend and have always gone on smell and taste. I never trust what I smell until after the first week of airing. I agree with you when you say that blending is one of the most important parts in making good drink. Endless learning. Cheers, bd.

[ct1870]

yes, I understand, but I was just trying to get an idea of what the % was to how i did blend. It is hard to understand that i blended my tails with hearts and heads. Now This is my spirit run so my heads hearts and tails are in a higher percentage of alcohol. is there a point to where the tails might be betterunder 30% like rum oils or is it better to keep them above 4o%. I have collected ujssm on a single run from 60% abv to 40% abv with a slight tails in it. I put it on oak and the flavor and smell were great. I read it is better and most all commercial store it around 60% to 65% abv. well i cannot get there on a single run with my pot still for my hearts. I think i will add a little heads or tails in the mash to bring up a starting abv to acheive the higher percentages comming off the worm. it is easier from me to sneak away for 3 hr to do a stripping run and collect enough to do a spirrit run which takes about 8 hrs on a off day when the family is gone. I Think the best is to add low wines to my mash to get the % up and collect the hearts as close to 55% to 70% abv to average around 120, 125 proof to age on wood.

I started out With, yes i understand but from reading this i more confused

[blind drunk]

I'm just an amateur but what I know is that there's some really good tasting stuff with a lower abv towards the end of a run and some really nasty bitter tails that have a higher abv. That's why I almost always run it right down and collect separately. Sometimes you get an amazing jar that really adds to the overall blend. I hate to miss out on that. Same is true with some later transitional heads. Cheers, bd.

[LWTCS]

So many variables.

It is really just a matter of running enough combinations to find that personnel sweet spot.

This place is the best place to get a starting/reference point. but ultimately its a matter of taste. And you will get to establish your own personal favorite "trick" with enough runs.

Then, it is your own.

That is in fact my most favorite part of searching for the holy grail.

[Usge]

I often blend back a little "tails" for the stuff I'm going to age because it has a very nice bourbony flavor to it...and it will oak out a beautiful nose. I do everything by taste/smell. I check it for abv after I'm done. You aren't wrong about the tails..particularly for oaking. You just have to be careful what you use. Make sure they dont' smell, and don't keep anything that's bitter or harsh. Too much tails, and it won't oak out. How much is too much? Well, you won't know till you do it once...so...why not go ahead and do it to find out? Take one run, divide each jar equally into 3 different jars. Now make 3 different cuts/blends. One more towards heads. One nothing but middle. And one more into tails. Now oak each one and test/taste each week over next 3 or 4 weeks. Make note of what you find...ie., heads tends to make it spicey (like cinnamon note from oak), that can be hot. Adds bite. Middles usually smooth, but not much nose. Tails add deeper notes and give the oak something to hang onto. It has notably more "nose" of caramel and sweetness from the oak and a deeper flavor. Too much tails...and they won't oak out, they stink, can be harsh, and bitter.

Oaking tends to take "some" of the residual harshness away. But, too much heads or tails and it's tough to subdue them with oak...even after a good bit of time. Head's cut you have to be very careful with. It will leave a hot "bite", rawness to the taste even after it oaks out. It doesn't take much. Err on the side of caution here and do you best to just cut them out entirely if you want a smooth spirit. Tails, you can be a bit more liberal with (just abit). Sometimes tails can be harsh too (particularly right after earliest indication of them coming on). Have to be careful here and taste "each" jar. And yes, it's ok to skip over jars and keep the one "after" but not the one "before". However, the general rule will be, particularly with tails, you have to be wary of the nose. If you can "smell" tails, it's far too much. If you can't smell them, but you can taste them very pronounced, it's probably too much. If you cant' smell them, it still taste sweet, or somewhat sweet/neutral, and you are just getting a nice "bourbony" type flavor under it — those are keepers and oak out beautifully. Some people use the watery late tails, after the base flavors dissipate, to add more "grainy" taste. In my experience, thus far, they do add that, but at the cost of the beautiful nose you'd otherwise get not using them.

Rums are different, and I don't have experience making it. So, I defer to others here for info on blending/cuts. But, from what I remember, rum "oils" are one of the keys to a good rum. And the secret to that was to ferment using a "yeast bomb" so it produces lots of these fusels prior to distilling. There's a sticky on that somewhere in recipe section. See "PugiRum".

[ct1870]

That was beutiful!!! like a good poem. You have supported what i have found and thanks for the feed back. there is a part of the tail which has almost a watery taste with out a bad smell and gives the oak a chance to sing with the flavor. I try not to use any heads at all because i feel it makes the wood taste very bitter almost like a bad tannin taste. And the tails give it more flavor and it almost makes a 50% abv taste like a 30% abv drink without the bight or burn. Now when i go deep into the tails and get the cloudy glob that forms in the jar is it ok to filter it off and blend with the hearts? I have filtered it through a coffee filter and their is still a little bit of oil still on the top I think i will filter again and smell and try it. I have mixed up a few small pint jars with several blends and they have been sitting on the shelf airing out. I will try them later, and also put a few woow chips to see how the turn out. Thanks for the feed back and i shall continue my journey down the trail of blending. I forgot i cut the pint jars down to 80 proof to taste. I will blend more the same after taste raw and cut them back to 120proof and add some wood.

[ct1870]

Ok just like you stated Usge, I believe when you first stArt to smell the tails comming over it gives the taste more of a bite or burn on the pallet. Once you get past that point and you getmorr of a sweet water sour smell it starts to mellow out a bit. When it is blended with the hearts it adds complexity to the taste. The smell is the hardest part for me because my nose does not work that well. I really have to pay attention to what I am doing. Now I was running a spirrit run and it seems to compress head and tells and the nasties seem to be more defined in each bottle collected. I think when this hits the wood it will really be nice. Before I would collect and blend with the higher or earlier tLls but I think it is better to get rid of the higher falls and blend with the later or lower part of the tails. E en if you have to filter out the cloudiness. WhAt do you think? I believe it will take a few more runs and a lot more time but i will do my best and try to explain my findings better the more I learn and understand.

[Usge]

Sounds like you are on your way to finding what you like and how to get there
I normally don't get any cloudiness from the tails I use for my whiskey, nor do I see an heavy oils showing up until way later after I stopped my cut. Just keep practicing and observing. Just like anything you'll learn to adapt with what you have. If you can't smell too good, focus more on taste. Rub some between your fingers (oily, or scrunchy dry?), etc. Tater put up a good stickie on lots of different methods, burning it, etc. Might help you with your smeller...to rub some between your palms quickly, then put both hands up to your nose/face. Lots of ways to work it out. Then, after you've aged/oaked it...if it has too much tails, or etc..you'll remember what it felts/tasted/smelled like...and know when you smell/taste, etc. that, you've gone too far. Just keep at it. And dont' worry too much about the mistakes...you'll learn from them.

[ct1870]

Thanks Usge, and BD had given me a link to another blending thread from about a year ago that you had gone into great detail on blending and others had commented on. Like LWTC said to each his on in the area of taste. i wish we were all in my shop sampling the different drinks. I'd just like to get your opinion.

[itsroger]

When I get through picking what blends together,for experimentation I take about a cup of the latest heads that was culled and about 2 cups of the earliest tails that were culled and blend them together and age them...clearly marked of course. That means I'm scared to mess with it, so it always gets older than the rest of the batch. It is surprising how good it sometimes is...but you will know the difference the next day. ie "HANGOVER".