Choke Cherry Wood

[DukeBoxer]

Anyone ever use Choke Cherry wood to age anything? A few years ago I had a tree fall in my back woods. Last year I remembered it was there and went to grab a piece, chopped it up and pulled out some pieces from the center. I used full proof (155) sugarhead corn whiskey at first and threw in a piece raw untoasted. I let that sit for a few weeks and then threw in a lightly toasted piece leaving the first one in there and left it a few more weeks. Then I proofed it down to 100 and threw in a heavy toast piece or 2 on top of what was in there already and let it sit a few months. After that time I took out the wood and filtered it into a bottle. Last night I tried some for the first time after filtering and it has a nice cherry nose and taste to it. It's a little astringent from the fresh wood but it makes it a little dryer in the mouth. I'm waiting for our 500 feet of snow to melt so I can go grab another piece and try it with some better liquor and see how it turns out.

[Da Yooper]

I'm currently testing a jar of 60%abv of sweet feed on about 10 sq. inches of chard black cherry. I started this in October and will try it in June. Keep us posted on the choke cherry results, how much wood per quart? I have found that less wood over a longer period of time works better for me.

[DukeBoxer]

Ok I'm going to revive this thread. A few weeks ago I went and found the last piece of trunk that was left from the tree. I split it and let it sit for a few weeks. The other day I went and took a few pieces and cut off every exposed part with an ax until I had some nice heart wood pieces. The original log was about 7 inches diameter. I cut these down smaller and threw them in the toaster oven for about 3 hours on 425. I was looking for a nice dark toast. The house smelled great by the way. I have a small piece of fresh wood, a toasted one and a toasted and charred one in about 1500 ml of 58% all grain bourbon. Mash bill was 10 pounds corn and 5 pounds white wheat malt. I'm also going to try to do half oak and half cherry when I make another bourbon to see how that comes out. I for one swear by the amazing cherry flavor that comes over using this wood and I hate all things cherry (think medicine). I'll let you know how this turns out!

[firewater69]

I've been using cherry for a while, i like it toasted @ 400 for about 1.5 hrs, no char. it has a good nose and is sweet, white oak is still my favorite.

[DukeBoxer]

Firewater I feel the same about the nose. The last time I used it I didn't char. I did this time to see what differences there'll be. I'm gearing up for a few more ag bourbons for a half and half, oak and cherry ageing. I'm hoping it'll be even better.

[firewater69]

Let us know how the oak/cherry comes out.

[DukeBoxer]

Here's a quick update, I've had my AG 67% corn 33% wheat malt on oak and cherry for 3 months now, a bottle of each wood. I mixed a sample of 60% oak:40% cherry and it is AMAZING!! Everyone that has tried it has said how good it is. I even kept it at "cask" strength of about 57% and it's smooth and super tasty. The cherry wood really makes a nice difference in a world of oaked spirits!