How important is color in your aged spirits?

[woodshed]

Do you have a color in mind when you age?
I like a mild ruby color to mine with the obligatory browns. Vision is your first contact with the spirit.
Ever consider how your grain bill affects the color? At the point you think it's perfect for drinking but not quite right for the eyes?

However you age, barrel to nuking, do you think about color?

[bearriver]

However you age, barrel to nuking, do you think about color?

Absolutely. Everything I make requires attention to how it looks. From using distilled water to dilute vodka, to vacuum filtering my macerations. How a drink looks is every bit as important to me as the taste. Even the bottles themselves and the labels are given attention.

I haven't aged a whole lot of spirits on oak, but I can say the color matters to me. That beautiful amber gives me a warm fuzzy feeling before I even drink it. As I gain more experience, I will use that to achieve a desired color in aged spirits.

[rnw349]

I definitely try to have not only a great taste but a great color also. I never let anyone see or taste something that is hazy or not up to par. Very few ever see it anyway. I have some that's not so pretty but tastes great, I take it to camp for my sipping whiskey.

[rad14701]

Oh, such a deep subject...!!! Truly... Anyone who has watched the commercial spirits flow though bars has seen vast differences in color and taste over the years... It's almost never consistent, no matter who is doing the tasting for blending... Case in point: Jack Daniels... Color swings are phenomenal... Same with several other commercial offerings... I focus more on taste and bouquet than color... Processing only starts during the olfactory to taste transition phase... Aside from that it's a blind date in the dark...

[scuba stiller]

... Aside from that it's a blind date in the dark...

Well said rad. If the candle is lit, I like a warm Amber color.

[woodshed]

Kinda my point rad as we all strive to do better than your standard commercial offering.
While I agree that taste and bouquet are ultimately more important I believe color is also right up there and is influenced by many factors such as grain bill, choice of wood and toast/char of the wood, time etc...
Consistency is a key element in quality. Why would an element as visceral as appearance not be as important in the quest for that quality?
If your beloved neutrals did not come out crystal clear every time would you feel your quality was suffering? I would.

[firewater69]

I'd say the color usually has a correlation to flavor i.e. how long it's on the wood, but overall color & clearity is important to me. I hate when a spirit is cloudy or hazy even just a little, it should sparkle when the light hits it. just my 2 cents. posted same time as Shed

[Odin]

When it is done barrel aging, it is ready to bottle. Whatever colour it has. Form follows function. So no artificial coloring or longer aging to increase color depth.

Just my take on it.

Odin.

[bitter]

I care more about flavor than the color.

B

[Jimbo]

I like oak, so I like a warm deep color. Its my first clue that whats in the bottle may satisfy. But I wont trust a commercial dark amber, since many bastards caramel color.

I also like my spirits to be clear of sediment, gunk, char, white precipitate, fruit or anything else, whether they are oaked, fruited, spiced or white. Its might be purely aesthetic, I dont give a shit, vision is one of our senses, putting some muddy shit up to my lips just doestn work for me. Its not as satisfying, and biases the rest of the experience too.

[woodshed]

Longer barrel time will affect color, no doubt.
Flavor certainly trumps color.

Balancing all the elements from recipe to aging will affect color. And allow you to create the color you want.

[Brutal]

I think clarity is very important, but color I'm not so sure. I used to think anything dark was going to be good. I've been looking at my s3 alternate bottle (yea I took it home) and watching it. It's got some orange qualities to it now that I don't remember being there. Still smells pretty good though. Interesting hearing all the opinions on color.

[firewater69]

I think clarity is very important, but color I'm not so sure. I used to think anything dark was going to be good. I've been looking at my s3 alternate bottle (yea I took it home) and watching it. It's got some orange qualities to it now that I don't remember being there. Still smells pretty good though. Interesting hearing all the opinions on color.

some of the better flavored stuff that I've done has been on second use oak and lighter in color, just depends on the grain bill as to whether I use new oak or not.

[woodshed]

Clarity is definitely more important than color.
I just get a little obsessive about my spirits and enjoy experimenting to see what I can control and what is left to the fates.
Guessing most stillers feel color is out of their control. But it isn't.
I tweaked my Apple Pie numerous times to achieve the color presentation I was looking for. It is not aged on wood but color was adjusted by spice quantity and contact time with the spices while maintaining desired flavor profile. No sugar or artificial color go into my Apple. Ultimately probably makes no difference to the general population who buy it although I have heard numerous times positive comments about it's color.

[rad14701]

I forget which documentary about spirits I was watching where they had a color sample palette of a few ounces each to compare blending with... As I recall, there was a range of some 4 - 6 samples that they tried to match... If it was too light they drew more from a darker barrel and if too dark they drew more from a lighter barrel... All while trying to retain the same flavor profile... But with single barrel you pretty much get what you get...

As for neutral, clear is clear... I never pay attention to how crystal clear versus dull clear the spirits might be... Whether it sparkles or not makes no difference to my liver or my buzz...

[shadylane]

I age and oak for flavor, filter for clarity and adjust the color at the end.
Figure I can try to do it all at the same time and have to compromise on one or the other.
Or I can divide the process into steps and do each well.

[wtfdskin]

I dont concern myself with the color as much as I do clarity. I agree with jimbo about the gunk. I dont drink blindfolded and it has to get past my eyes before it reaches my nose and mouth. I spend alot of time over coffee filters. I want to try vacuum filtering someday. Granted, its purely psychological, but perception can affect flavor in the mind.

[heartcut]

Color is one of the things that contribute to the experience.
I've eaten food that smelled and tasted good but looked bad and prefer good presentation.
As with the food example, the right color shows that everything turned out well.

[still_stirrin]

....I've eaten food that smelled and tasted good but looked bad...

I know what you mean...it's always like that at McD's.
ss

[wtfdskin]

Lol. Thats true for me with food, anyone who butchers pigs and eats scrapple, ponhaus, or whatever you call it in your area would agree.

[DAD300]

I get the idea here...I have great stuff come out of second use barrels, but the color is light.

My mind associates dark color with aging.

I've been using cherry wood lately and have been growing fond of the ruby red color it gives. But now I'm associating that color with a flavor, rather than flavor with a color.

[still_stirrin]

...I've been using cherry wood lately and have been growing fond of the ruby red color it gives. But now I'm associating that color with a flavor, rather than flavor with a color.

I've been using toasted pecan wood and it gives an amber color and a smooth nutty taste. It almost has a butternut quality. But it isn't as dark as the toasted and charred oak wood.

I too have used the toasted cherry and you're right, it gives the ruby color. And the flavor has a hint of sweet cherry taste too. Elegant and inviting...not fruity though...very subtle.
ss