To Toast Or Not To Toast?

[Photonic]

I've just received a kilo bag of some fairly chunky oak shavings from an old Scottish whisky barrel that previously held sherry, then obviously whisky.
I was planning on toasting them in a similar way to Scarecrow in this thread: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =4&t=11108

...but after opening the bag and taking a lungful of the aroma from them, I am stunned that it smells so good. I was wondering whether to use them as they are or to toast them.

I guess I could do a 50/50 and toast some and leave the others as they are, or I could even toast some and do several versions and age them in the bottle but I'm not too keen on this idea as I wanted to age 4 litres at a time in a demijohn.

I was wondering if anyone knows if toasting them will "cook off" the gorgeous smell that is in them and so stop it transferring to my spirit.

[LWTCS]

I was wondering if anyone knows if toasting them will "cook off" the gorgeous smell that is in them and so stop it transferring to my spirit.

IMHO, I think it will concentrate the goodness.
Think in terms of caramelizing.

I wet my oak then wrap in foil and place in oven on 325 or so for an hour or so.

Then save in a glass jar till ready for use. Then I alligator char with a torch prior to inserting into my aging jug.

I've been very satisfied thus far

[olddog]

You would probably get the flavour without charring, but I don't think you would get much color. also charring gives you a bit of a smokey flavour.

[HookLine]

Try it all three ways, charred, toasted, and plain. See which you prefer.

[Photonic]

I like the concept of caramelising - thanks LWTCS

Yes, I think that I'll do a mixed batch and see which I prefer. Thanks all.

[Photonic]

I think that I overdid the amount of oak shavings that I used.

The following picture is after only 12 hours on the oak shavings.
The oak came from a whisky barrel (and smelled gorgeous), so maybe that had something to do with it too, but I think that I went overboard on the shavings (about a handful per litre of 50% spirit).

From the left, the shavings were untoasted, then roasted in foil, then open roasted until black.

I strained the oak out after 12 hours because I was worried about overoaking it, I replaced the oak with a couple of teaspoons of oakdust per bottle.
Tastewise, the taste of the spirit has improved.

Untoasted: Toffeeish taste
Foil roasted: Sweet almost vanillalike
Open roasted: very smokey

I kind of prefer the taste of the untoasted at the moment.

I'd still like the spirits to age (or at least mellow somehow) but really don't want to overdo the oak, do you think I've done the right thing by adding a small amount of oak sawdust, or will the elements that have already leeched out of the oak into my spirit age on their own now?

Thanks all.

[LWTCS]

Didn't hear a word you said.
I'm busy looking at the lovely colors.

[LWTCS]

Lots of gents here can certainly offer very qualified advise.

I only have a handful of oaked quantities (already consumed).

No matter what the recommendation is, your taste buds gotta make the call.

I would prefer a dark color that has been aged for 5 years. But I settle for 3 weeks

I think you'll need to be prepared re-run or blend with something more nuetral if you've over done it. Most color gets installed early on.

My last batch was done with recycled sticks only. It was good, but not as good as previous batches. But the whole dynamic changes with each week. So many variables.

I've never used shavings.

Its gonna take some product experimentation to get what you may prefer. Have your missus help. Ladies have a great pallet (I find).

Sure is makin me thirsty lookin at that purty amber.

[Photonic]

Didn't hear a word you said.
I'm busy looking at the lovely colors.

I was amazed by the colours. I was a bit concerned but then I saw your bottle and realised that I was on the right track.

I think you'll need to be prepared re-run or blend with something more nuetral if you've over done it. Most color gets installed early on.

I guess that as the shavings have a lot of surface area that things happened quickly as far as colour goes.

I'll leave them for a couple of weeks and dilute down to 40% and then maybe have a blending session.




Thanks for your help.

[scarecrow]

You won't get a true indication of the flavour for about 4 - 6 weeks. Before that it just has a "woody" taste. The longer you leave it, the nicer it gets.

The hard part is not drinking it first.

I have some corn likker aging. At 1 week it taste like razorblades dipped in acid. At 4 weeks it's not bad. A 2 months it's a different drink altogether. All are the same recipe. All are on new oak, nothing else.

scarecrow

[HookLine]

The hard part is not drinking it first.

Sure is. Some say getting the cuts right is the hardest thing in stillin. Not even close. Letting it age properly before you drink it is waaaay harder. Especially if it is your first batch or two.

[LWTCS]

Some say getting the cuts right is the hardest thing in stillin. Not even close. Letting it age properly before you drink it is waaaay harder. Especially if it is your first batch or two.

+100

And especially hard if one gets the cuts good enough to best commercial likker.