5 gallon barrel vs heavy char oak chips?

[Sailman]

I want to find at my lbs world heavy char oak chips and I'm not too sure that's what I want to use but I've got some questions. I just finished four generations of sweet feed and after cutting it down to 55%I will have a little more than 6 gallons. I was hoping to have this ready by Christmas but that might not be achievable. How long approximately would it take to age in a Gibbs 5-gallon medium Char Barrel versus putting it on the heavy char oak chips? Everything that I have read leads me to believe that the barrel will take several years but Oak chips can take months. I just want to do what will give me the best spirit and not take forever to get there.