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Just read an article by Charles Cowdery (on Kindle for .99) titled, "Small Barrels Produce Lousy Whiskey. Buffalo Trace Distillery Tests The Effectiveness Of 5, 10, & 15 Gallon Barrels for Aging Bourbon Whiskey. Wondering if any else had read it and their opinions.

I've read it.

My opinion is that he's sorta right but mostly wrong.

A good bourbon can be made with a small barrel but you need to start with a superior product. So on the point of can't make a good bourbon in a small barrel he's totally wrong, and that seemed to be the whole premises of his article.

Where I think he's right is that if you take an average product and age it in a small barrel you will end up with an average bourbon. Take that same average product and age it in a large barrel for 6 years you get a pretty good product.

He also doesn't take into account the quality of the barrel.

I'd like to know the basis of his claims, i.e., how they "proved" small barrels produce lousy whiskey. If you age a 5 gallon barrel whiskey for 8 years it will probably taste awful compared to the same whiskey aged in a 53 gallon barrel for 8 years.

His claims were based around an experiment at Buffalo Trace into accelerating aging using small barrels. His argument was that you could pick up the wood flavors, but that the whiskey did not oxidize the same as if it had been aged in a larger barrel (and therefore longer). It had me wondering how easily one could accelerate oxidization.

buffalo trace owes me $30 for buying their shitty ass White Dog Mash #1.... fuck their opinions

Buffalo trace is a subsidairy of a giant cashcow.. they aren't a microdistillery at all... The same parent company owns Barton's distillery which produces the nastiest swill you'll taste in all the bar special well drinks. IMO, they abuse the word "microdistillery"..

"The Sazerac Company, a New Orleans, Louisiana-based producer and importer purchased the distillery in 1992 and is now the parent company of Buffalo Trace Distillery.[4]"

"The Sazerac Company is a large privately held and family-operated alcoholic beverages company with headquarters in Metairie, Louisiana.[1][2][3] It owns and produces a large and diversified portfolio of beverage brands, and it owns and operates a number of distilling companies. Its distilleries include the Tom Moore Distillery (in Bardstown, Kentucky — formerly known as the Barton Brands distillery[4]), the Buffalo Trace Distillery (in Frankfort, Kentucky), and the A. Smith Bowman Distillery (a microdistillery in Fredericksburg, Virginia)."[1][2][3] The products of the company and its subsidiaries include various types of whiskey, vodka, gin, tequila, rum, brandy, cognac, cocktails, cordials, liqueurs, "shooters", and wine.[1][2][3] The company is reportedly controlled by the chairman of its Board of Directors, William Goldring.[3][5][6]"

THEY MAKE SKOL VODKA!

Edit:

"The company is reportedly controlled by the chairman of its Board of Directors, William Goldring"

Did a bit of research on him and he at least spreads his wealth... Seems like a stand up guy... Won a lot of awards/honors for being "kind"

Re-Edit:
Clean up some unnecessary ranting

Astro,

No need to hold back. Ur among friends. Let us know how you really feel

Husker wrote:Astro,

No need to hold back. Ur among friends. Let us know how you really feel

My thoughts exactly.

I toured the Buffalo Trace distillery last summer and sampled their White Dog. You are right, it sucks. At least I didn't have to buy it to find out.

But..., sometimes I get behind on my stillin' and have to actually buy vodka (shudder!). When I do, my brand of choice is "Platinum 7," a Sazerac brand. For a modestly priced vodka (under $10/750ml) it is actually pretty damned good. Better than Absolut by a long shot and, to my taste, at least as good as Skyy. I also like the blue bottles and use them for my own vodka.

Your mileage may vary.