I ran across a really helpful set of PDF's online a week or two ago hosted on distilling.com - one of them was about barrel aging (
http://www.distilling.com/PDF/chapter4.pdf)
While a high-alcohol concentration, such as 80%, extracts more of the beneficial compounds and color, it can also extract more tannin, which imparts too much astringency
and harshness to the flavor. Additionally, the higher the alcohol content, the more water
that has to be added to dilute it to bottling strength when the aging is finished. This also
dilutes the barrel contribution. So, it has been determined that for whiskey aging in new
barrels, 55 to 65% abv is the optimum strength to achieve a balance of barrel extraction and
color, with lower tannins.
The temperatures in the warehouse affect the oxidation reactions that take place in the
spirit, and higher temperatures accelerate these reactions. Since these are great contributors to the aging of the spirit, it’s obviously advantageous to age at higher temperatures. Acids and esters increase due partly to the oxidation of the ethanol to acetic acid via acetaldehyde which is then partially converted to ethyl acetate (an ester). Therefore, a consequence
of aging is an increase in the concentration of acids, esters, furfural, tannins, and aromatic
compounds as a result of oxidation, condensations, and other interactions with the wood.
Tropical temperatures, especially when there are variations between night and day, are
ideal for faster aging, and it has been found that aging may not take place during the winter
in temperate climates if the warehouse is not heated. Movement of barrels during the aging
period will also help, but this is obviously not a practical approach.
All of the prior discussion on barrel aging and its associated properties has been based
on aging spirits in a standard 53-gallon distillery barrel. For example, a top-quality bourbon is aged until it’s ìreadyî. Because bourbon, like all American straight whiskies, is aged
in new charred oak barrels, there’s a point in the aging process when the oak contribution can go too far, and the whiskey takes on a cloying, overpowering astringency. This is
why bourbon distilleries monitor the taste of their aging whiskies frequently past a certain
point to determine when it’s “ready.” And, this point tends to fall between six and eight
years in the barrel. With bourbon, the saying “the older, the better” simply doesn’t apply.
However, this six-to-eight-years applies to 53-gallon barrels. If a different sized barrel
is used then the dynamics change, and values like length of time in the barrel, the rate at
which lignin and vanillins are extracted, etc are completely different. The reason for this
is volume increases by a power of 3 relative to the dimensions, while surface area only increases by a power of 2 relative to the dimensions. That is to say, the amount of surface area
of wood per gallon of spirit is greater in a smaller barrel and less in a bigger barrel.
So, if a distiller aged his/her whiskey in 5-gallon barrels rather than 53-gallon ones,
there would be a considerably greater surface area of wood exposed to a gallon of spirit
than in a 53-gallon barrel. And, the whiskey ages much faster.
Smaller barrels age the whiskey faster and impart lignin and vanillin, and also tannin,
faster as well. And, a good-quality bourbon can be aged out in only three to six months in
a 5-gallon barrel. In fact, any longer and the whiskey would go over the top and become
astringent and bitter.
To sample the whiskey, remove the bung and draw up about an ounce of it with a glass
wine thief or a large pipette, and empty it into a wineglass. Take a nose and taste of the caskstrength whiskey, and then dilute it half-and-half with water and nose and taste it again.
While the whiskey is still immature, it will have an unbalanced flavor of straight wood and
a burnt taste. When the whiskey is ìreadyî, it’ll have a smooth, rich, balanced flavor with
characteristics of the wood and char, but the raw woody, burnt taste will have subsided.
(Emphasis mine). According this the site, the problem some people have been experiencing with 'woody' flavor is due to insufficient aging, and it sounds like this phase of maturation should be expected (not avoided).
its funny they havent even charged my card yet? well i hope the people from oak barrels ltd are legit, im getting sick of some of these rip offs!!! thanx for the info guys!