Wood prep - Cherry and pear - And Walnut

[kmmuellr]

As I'm finishing my first spirit run on a molasses rum, deep into tails and about to shut down; I'm doing some reading and just read about Cherry wood. That got me thinking....

How do you properly prep wood to go into spirit?

I've got many board feet of rough sawn, cherry from an OLD tree that I took down at my FIL's clubhouse. This has been sitting in my in-laws barn rafters in northern Michigan for at least 5 years after he had it sawn from the logs. I just pulled some down to make a few things my wife wants, and I figure I'll have some scrap, so I may as well do something with it!' This is nice heartwood, 11 inch wide boards.

I've also got a stack of cut and split firewood from a Bradford Pear that I cut out of my back yard this past summer. Its probably 7 months old now, from a ~25 year old tree.

I've read varying things here re: toasting and charring, etc; and have done some of that with old barrel staves I have. However, I don't know if I should follow the same procedure with "new" wood.

1. is the cherry good to go and process, or should it have some outside aging?
2. is the pear good to go and process w/ ~7 months of weather exposure?

Any tips or tricks, or guidance?

Thanks!
K

Edited to add - I also have a bunch of REALLY old walnut in the rafters, rough sawn. Anyone age w/ walnut?