Peated Whiskey

Grain bills and instruction for all manner of alcoholic beverages.

Moderator: Site Moderator

User avatar
Durhommer
Distiller
Posts: 2399
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 11:23 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by Durhommer »

Both my peat smoked gallons are 90 proof this whole adventure into peat is turning out swell.its got me thinking of smoking my own grain here and there ill be spirit running this tomorrow or friday.I use "sweet" water(spring water) when diluting low wines and distilled for proofing.I'm going to age this batch at 130 on my char white oak think ill leave a pint white too
You have two ears and one mouth for a reason....
cayars
Distiller
Posts: 1687
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:08 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by cayars »

I'm glad you put the "spring water" in there as I would have read that as you using the low ABV water that comes at the end of tails. Low in ABV but "sweat" in flavor from the distill run. Spring water is well, spring water. :)

But that aside, it's cool to see others trying the "smoked" approach. I love reading how this turns out as you don't see many threads with people adventurous enough to try things like this!

I didn't see it in mentioned in your previous post in the thread. What smoked malt did you use?
How long do you plan on aging it?
Programmer specializing in process control for ExxonMobil (ethanol refinery control), WT, Omron, Bosch, Honeywell & Boeing.
More than a decade working for NASA & FAA Tech with computer code used on Space Shuttles and some airline flight recorders.
OtisT
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3179
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:59 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by OtisT »

For Barrel 1, 40% of the grain bill was a Simpsons light peat smoked grain. For Barrel 2, 50% of the grain bill was a Simpsons heavy peat smoked grain.

I intend to age these two years minimum. The barrels are slow agers. I also have a third barrel that was filled soon after the peat was made. It’s a simple single malt whiskey, conservative cut, in a toasted barrel. I made it to use for blending with the peated whiskeys, when that time comes.

Yes, the sweet water I am referring to is taken off of the still very late in the spirit run.

Otis
Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/Dimroth
Learning to Toast: Toasting Wood
Polishing Spirits with Fruitwood: Fruitwood
Badmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
OtisT
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3179
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:59 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by OtisT »

Un-Fucking my Peated Whiskey

Fucking up my whiskey :oops:
About 18 months ago I put down three small barrels of whiskey. Two where peated and one was just a straight wheat/barley whiskey that I intended to use for blending with my peated barrels. Well 18 months ago I was apparently into using a lot of tails and these things just never lost that tails smell/taste. That and I used sweetwater in one of the peated batchs but I don’t think I ran that down as far as I should have.

Un-Fucking my whiskey :D
Today I am finishing the last of three repair runs. I diluted each batch down from 62% to 50% and ran them through my mini pot still one more time to clean up the tails. Slow runs where I took a super small foreshots cut and I cut out the worst of the tails. I put each back into their original barrel.

Some positive thoughts
The good news is these were originally in first use barrels. Now that they are cleaned up, they are going into second use barrels. At least that is a little more in line with the scotch tradition. I figure any of the excess tails soaked into the wood will be diluted enough by my cleaned up batch.

My mini still continues to be one of the best things I have made and is worth every second I put into making it. I could not do this with my big boiler.

My past experience with redistilling previously wood aged spirits is that these will not take nearly as long to reach maturity as a new spirit would. Time will tell.

Otis
Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/Dimroth
Learning to Toast: Toasting Wood
Polishing Spirits with Fruitwood: Fruitwood
Badmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
Eire Whiskey

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by Eire Whiskey »

The peated whiskey is what I want to do eventually, single malt I suspect.
cayars
Distiller
Posts: 1687
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:08 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by cayars »

I about spit my coffee out reading your post header. :)

How did the peat flavor hold up on the 3rd run at 50%? I'm sure a lot better than had you diluted to 30% or so.
You can call it an Irish Peated with the 3rd distillation using "high wines" :)

It sure is nice having stills with different volumes. The little guys might not be good for regular runs and doing cuts but are great for gins, macerations, cleanups, etc

Smart move on your part.

Hey but don't tell anyone it was to un-fuck it. It was just part of the elaborate process you use to prep the barrel perfectly for the spirit it will hold. You know craft distilling at it's finest! LOL
Programmer specializing in process control for ExxonMobil (ethanol refinery control), WT, Omron, Bosch, Honeywell & Boeing.
More than a decade working for NASA & FAA Tech with computer code used on Space Shuttles and some airline flight recorders.
User avatar
SaltyStaves
Distiller
Posts: 1049
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 5:18 pm
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by SaltyStaves »

Of the heavily peated Islay New make spirits that I sampled on the island, I only ever got a hint of tails. Just an echo. It busted a myth that I believed when I entered into this hobby.
However, they are recycling their feints and that could be a major factor in how they retain peat but still do a narrow cut for barreling.

If you still have your feints, add them too to the re-run.
OtisT
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3179
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:59 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by OtisT »

cayars wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2019 1:02 pm How did the peat flavor hold up on the 3rd run at 50%? I'm sure a lot better than had you diluted to 30% or so.
The peat smoke profile did not hold up well as far as I can tell. I figured this would happen when I began the process, but I thought a drinkable spirit with very little peat smoke is better than an undrinkable spirit with more peat.

There is some good flavor/smell in the hearts and maybe some faint peat toward the tails end. To be honest, detecting peat throughout this process has been very inconsistent for me. It seems to really show up some time after distillation, and when proofed down so I think I reserve my opinion on the final results on my peat levels after a few months in the barrel.

I’m chalking these batches up to experience in learning cuts. I started out 4+ years ago making a lot of clean cuts and over time have made wider and wider cuts on the top and bottom. These were the deepest bottom cuts I have ever made and I think I found the bottom end of my cuts range by going a bit too far. I had to hit the wall some time, but I am a little sad I did it on three freakin batches at once. Oh well. I’m sure I will get some good whiskey out of these when all is said and done, but I definitely need to do another peat monster batch in the future. Maybe I will keep one of these barreled for blending with that yet to be made batch?

Otis
Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/Dimroth
Learning to Toast: Toasting Wood
Polishing Spirits with Fruitwood: Fruitwood
Badmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
OtisT
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3179
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:59 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by OtisT »

SaltyStaves wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2019 1:17 pm Of the heavily peated Islay New make spirits that I sampled on the island, I only ever got a hint of tails. Just an echo. It busted a myth that I believed when I entered into this hobby.
However, they are recycling their feints and that could be a major factor in how they retain peat but still do a narrow cut for barreling.

If you still have your feints, add them too to the re-run.
I need to rethink my whole process next time I make a peated whiskey. Thanks for the tips on this, and I’ll be sure and consider it when I get back around to trying this one again. I am not saving these feints, but I would not be against doing three or four batches back to back creating feints to get this right.

In addition to working with feints, someone was talking recently about macerating low wines in peated grains before the spirit run. Don’t know how that turned out, but hopefully I’ll hear more about it before I get back to this style.

Otis
Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/Dimroth
Learning to Toast: Toasting Wood
Polishing Spirits with Fruitwood: Fruitwood
Badmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
cayars
Distiller
Posts: 1687
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:08 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by cayars »

OtisT wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2019 3:56 pm In addition to working with feints, someone was talking recently about macerating low wines in peated grains before the spirit run. Don’t know how that turned out, but hopefully I’ll hear more about it before I get back to this style.

Otis
I recycle feints for whiskey. I too want to try that peated soak in low wines as well as doing a sugar wash and adding a quart of molasses per gallon to low wines for making rum. Both kind of similar processes for adding flavor before the spirit run. Can't remember who posted either of those tips. :(
Programmer specializing in process control for ExxonMobil (ethanol refinery control), WT, Omron, Bosch, Honeywell & Boeing.
More than a decade working for NASA & FAA Tech with computer code used on Space Shuttles and some airline flight recorders.
The Baker
Master of Distillation
Posts: 4659
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2006 4:48 am
Location: Northern Victoria, Australia

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by The Baker »

It is common to put oak dominoes in whiskey, whatever, in say a glass jar, to give it the flavour it would have got from a barrel.

SO, could you put a little PEAT in your whiskey for a while...?

Geoff

Also what OtisT said...G
The Baker
The Baker
Master of Distillation
Posts: 4659
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2006 4:48 am
Location: Northern Victoria, Australia

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by The Baker »

The Baker wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2019 5:43 pm It is common to put oak dominoes in whiskey, whatever, in say a glass jar, to give it the flavour it would have got from a barrel.

SO, could you put a little PEAT in your whiskey for a while...?

Geoff

Also what OtisT said...
maybe peated grains not peat...G
The Baker
OtisT
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3179
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:59 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by OtisT »

The Baker wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2019 5:43 pm It is common to put oak dominoes in whiskey, whatever, in say a glass jar, to give it the flavour it would have got from a barrel.

SO, could you put a little PEAT in your whiskey for a while...?

Geoff
I’m not sure I want to try that myself. I’d be concerned that macerating a finished whiskey in peat smoked grains would not taste right, and it would pick up oils and particles from the grains that I would not want in a finished product.

I do know that when stripping a peated ferment that there is a large (huge) amount of peat and smoke smell in the air and in the resulting low wines. If I ever try macerating grains in low wines before a spirit run I will be starting with only a small amount of grains. Just theory at this point.

Otis
Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/Dimroth
Learning to Toast: Toasting Wood
Polishing Spirits with Fruitwood: Fruitwood
Badmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
User avatar
Durhommer
Distiller
Posts: 2399
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 11:23 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by Durhommer »

brother got me a laphroig 10 year i poured some on my used oak sticks and sealed it up. looking to find the proper peat and smoke some grain just for shits. ive got 7 gallons sitting back of different things
You have two ears and one mouth for a reason....
User avatar
nerdybrewer
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1642
Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 3:00 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by nerdybrewer »

I've done peat a couple times now.
What I heard from a master was that to get the most flavor you run one and done.
Keep the middle so you have enough proof to barrel it.
Every time you run the spirit again it will lose flavor, which is pretty much true for everything we do right?
One batch I ran one and done.
I wasn't happy about the volume of spirit in my keep, it turns out though I was happy with the quality.
The second time I did a 1.5 with several gallons of finished mash in the still with the low wines.
I kept more on this one, more heads and tails.
I recall a smoky film on top of the jars once I let them sit over night.
This came out closer to the tails end of the run, IIRC after the nasty wet dog part of the tails which were discarded some of this smoky looking stuff came out. It went in the barrel. That batch was really nice, that's the scotch that BigBob said changed his mind about Scotch Whisky, he had never had one he liked before.
I used about 75% normal malted barley and 25% heavy peated.
I squeezed absolutely everything I could get out of the peated barley.
I mashed them separately and then fermented it all together.
This made squeezing out the peated barley easier since there was less of it.
I should do it again, but go bigger.
It would be awesome to have 15 gallons of that aging in a once used Oola Bourbon barrel.
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
User avatar
Canuckwoods
Swill Maker
Posts: 222
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:18 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by Canuckwoods »

This is a very timely topic I have two batches in a carboy to be re-distilled and two bubbling away. I used 50-50 2 row and medium peated and had a lot of issues with puking with the first two batches so I 'm going to go low and slow with these two. I'll add half of what I have to each batch and then only do a single run. I'll let you know in the new year how the white turns out then next Xmas how the aged is.
cayars
Distiller
Posts: 1687
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:08 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by cayars »

Hello Canuckwoods.

Keep in mind if you are going for a Scotch type whiskey you will want to strip it down to nothing to get all the flavors possible while reducing water (consolidation flavor run) to bring out more flavor then it's followed by a spirit run. Scots re-use all feints from batch to batch to add additional flavor and would never toss feints. After the 3rd or 4th batch the complexity starts to develop from the use of the feints being reprocessed and it just gets better.

Generally speaking, on a pot still you want as much passive reflux as you can get which is why they use wide/tall swan necks on their stills.
Programmer specializing in process control for ExxonMobil (ethanol refinery control), WT, Omron, Bosch, Honeywell & Boeing.
More than a decade working for NASA & FAA Tech with computer code used on Space Shuttles and some airline flight recorders.
User avatar
Canuckwoods
Swill Maker
Posts: 222
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:18 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by Canuckwoods »

If I was to add about 24in of 2in to the top of my pot still would the be good or just a waste?
User avatar
Durhommer
Distiller
Posts: 2399
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 11:23 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by Durhommer »

a waste u would be headed for refluxing not pot stilliln. cayars, stillerboy, still stirrin, wanna take this one?...
You have two ears and one mouth for a reason....
cayars
Distiller
Posts: 1687
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:08 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by cayars »

Canuckwoods wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 5:13 am If I was to add about 24in of 2in to the top of my pot still would the be good or just a waste?
What do you have on top already?
Programmer specializing in process control for ExxonMobil (ethanol refinery control), WT, Omron, Bosch, Honeywell & Boeing.
More than a decade working for NASA & FAA Tech with computer code used on Space Shuttles and some airline flight recorders.
User avatar
Canuckwoods
Swill Maker
Posts: 222
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:18 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by Canuckwoods »

About 6" of 2"
cayars
Distiller
Posts: 1687
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:08 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by cayars »

I think it would help. It's not going to make any drastic change but little things help. Personal opinion but if you could do copper tube that would be better. You could even put in a few copper scrubbies as well. On your big Scotch and Irish stills the base of the neck is wider and it gets narrower as it goes up which naturally causes vapor to hit the side walls and reflux back down. The scrubbies could help to do something of the same thing. A cone shape is ideal as it forces vapor to hit the sides more, but is also more expensive (a few copper scrubbies will help).

On these same stills take a look at some of the pictures of these stills and notice how tall most of the swan necks are compared to the height of the boiler itself and roughly how much vapor they can hold (a lot). So the vapor moves slower through the riser and picks up speed when it hits the lyn arm. The reason I mention this is that you could go bigger than 2" if you wanted and use a reducer. It also gives you an idea of tried and true riser heights used commercially. You could use a 2" to 3" reducer 3" tube and another 2" to 3" reducer at the top. Could do the same using 2" to 4" as well. Remember a 3" tube will hold twice as much as a 2" tube will. So for every drop that comes out of the still it will have moved slower through the riser the wider it is giving it more passive reflux time. But just adding a regular old 2" column with some light packing will help as well.

Take a look at the different sizes used on this blog entry for a couple different types of Scotch stills: https://blog.distiller.com/pot-still/

IMHO it's a slight change that's worth it. The additional copper and double/triple the vapor in the riser gives slight passive reflux and allows the use of rerunning feints more successfully just like the big boys do. So two benefits that work together. It will not be night and day difference but every little things helps when distilling.
Programmer specializing in process control for ExxonMobil (ethanol refinery control), WT, Omron, Bosch, Honeywell & Boeing.
More than a decade working for NASA & FAA Tech with computer code used on Space Shuttles and some airline flight recorders.
User avatar
nerdybrewer
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1642
Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 3:00 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by nerdybrewer »

I use 24" of 2" copper packed with copper mesh.
I believe that was the best I could do with my rig at the time.
I'm almost set to transform it into a 2" diameter boiler and thumper setup, two 15 gallon stainless kegs and a whole bunch of copper between them.
That's after I get my stillin' shed rebuilt.
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
OtisT
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3179
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:59 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by OtisT »

OtisT wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2019 11:14 am Un-Fucking my Peated Whiskey

Fucking up my whiskey :oops:
About 18 months ago I put down three small barrels of whiskey. Two where peated and one was just a straight wheat/barley whiskey that I intended to use for blending with my peated barrels. Well 18 months ago I was apparently into using a lot of tails and these things just never lost that tails smell/taste. That and I used sweetwater in one of the peated batchs but I don’t think I ran that down as far as I should have.

Un-Fucking my whiskey :D
Today I am finishing the last of three repair runs. I diluted each batch down from 62% to 50% and ran them through my mini pot still one more time to clean up the tails. Slow runs where I took a super small foreshots cut and I cut out the worst of the tails. I put each back into their original barrel.

Some positive thoughts
The good news is these were originally in first use barrels. Now that they are cleaned up, they are going into second use barrels. At least that is a little more in line with the scotch tradition. I figure any of the excess tails soaked into the wood will be diluted enough by my cleaned up batch.

My mini still continues to be one of the best things I have made and is worth every second I put into making it. I could not do this with my big boiler.

My past experience with redistilling previously wood aged spirits is that these will not take nearly as long to reach maturity as a new spirit would. Time will tell.

Otis
4 months after redistilling my 3 barrels I broke them open to see how things are turning out so far.

I’m happy to say the nasty smell and taste of tails is now just a faint memory. Just a hint in the nose and not unpleasant at all.

The light peat barrel still has a light peat smell along with some other wonderful light smells, and the taste is pretty smooth and light.
My heavy peat barrels still has a good peat presence and the taste is quite strong with a big mouth feel that lingers. A lot different than the light peat.
My wheat/barley whiskey has a nice whiskey nose and a clean/smooth taste. Should be good for blending now that the stank of tails is gone.

All three have only a hint of color after 4 months. The barrels are toasted only (no char) and It looks like the first 18 took most of the color out of them. I hope things darken up after some summer months.

Distilling a third time did not strip all of the peat profile from these, but it did take it down half a notch. Nothing as drastic as the drop in peat between the first and second distillation. :-)

I think the un-fucking repair job I did will end up making some fine whiskey with enough time. I’ll check these again in the fall.

Otis
Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/Dimroth
Learning to Toast: Toasting Wood
Polishing Spirits with Fruitwood: Fruitwood
Badmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
Sk8brew
Novice
Posts: 65
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 6:32 am

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by Sk8brew »

Otis, just read this thread. Looks like you should be over the 2 year mark, any updates? I made a batch that has been aging for a month. I have not liked the smell or taste from mash through distillation. I find the peat brings out the tails. I am hoping it will age out.
OtisT
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3179
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:59 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by OtisT »

Sk8brew, yes my two barrels of peated whiskey and the one un-peated barrel for blending are a bit over two years Old now but they are not near ready to bottle yet. 7 or 8 months ago I re-distilled what I had in those barrels because I went too deep into tails on my cuts and that heavy stink and lingering bitter taste of tails was not diminishing. On my 3rd pot still run I did a very small fores cut and took a healthy bit of tails away before I threw these batches back into the same barrels.

So, since you asked I tried both barrels recently. Both still have a nice peat profile to them (it was not lost in the repair run). The tails is just noticeable, but not offensive like before the repair run. Seems like something that will easily work out with more time. The original spirit sucked much of the color out of my barrels in the first 14 months, so currently What comes out is very light/thin. I expect I will get more color over time but it may never get dark. These are toasted, not charred barrels so I don’t expect the same darkness in the end that I would from something out of a bourbon barrel. There is a bit of a hot bite to the spirit in taste, which I think is something retained from the oak from the first 14 months. It’s not a heads bite.

I intend now to keep aging these at least 16 more months, which would be two years after my repair distillation. Beyond that, who knows?

Otis
Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/Dimroth
Learning to Toast: Toasting Wood
Polishing Spirits with Fruitwood: Fruitwood
Badmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
User avatar
jonnys_spirit
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 3629
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 7:58 am
Location: The Milky Way

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Sounds great Otis and makes me really want to do an all heavy peat batch - really really bad - maybe a couple runs keeping hearts of hearts on used toasted oak recycling feints. First I'll need to get a five gallon gibbs for the next HBB and do a couple small peat runs to experiment.

Laphroaig, Cao'Isla, Ardbeg, Lagavulin - love all those dearly!

Cheers!
-jonny
————
i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
————
User avatar
Tummydoc
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 967
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 1:05 pm
Location: attack ship off the shoulder of Orion

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by Tummydoc »

I'd be tempted to add a few new cut down staves to the barrell for coloring, but patience is a harder ingredient for me.
LordL
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 194
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2021 7:05 am
Location: Earth

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by LordL »

Hi Otis! Long time lurker and your post is the reason I finally registered..

"Today I am finishing the last of three repair runs. I diluted each batch down from 62% to 50% and ran them through my mini pot still one more time to clean up the tails. Slow runs where I took a super small foreshots cut and I cut out the worst of the tails. I put each back into their original barrel."
I know it was a long time ago but...

If I may ask you a question. Out of your ~8 litres of barrelproof, how much of that consisted of "Peat water" or "Smoky water"? I know you put in like 1 liter of that in your fist "Fucked batch", so that seems to much, but how did you narrow it down to a smokey/ peaty but not necessarily "tailsy" spirit in the end? And how much tails did you discard in your second run?

I have "Inherited" a old pot, maybe 15l, not much but its mine. I can run it as a sorts of "pot" unpacked, or filled with spp's it produces fine 96% hearts. I want to run it as a pot for a peaty session, but think it maybe would be wiser to take it slow for the spirit run and pack some spp's and _really_ find those peatey sections. Work with really small jars in the tails section to get a really good separation of bitter tails and holy peatyness. Witch approach would you more seasoned distillers say?
20L Boiler
2" Piping
Potstill
OtisT
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3179
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:59 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Peated Whiskey

Post by OtisT »

LordL wrote: Sun Oct 17, 2021 1:30 pm
If I may ask you a question. Out of your ~8 litres of barrelproof, how much of that consisted of "Peat water" or "Smoky water"? I know you put in like 1 liter of that in your fist "Fucked batch", so that seems to much, but how did you narrow it down to a smokey/ peaty but not necessarily "tailsy" spirit in the end? And how much tails did you discard in your second run?

I have "Inherited" a old pot, maybe 15l, not much but its mine. I can run it as a sorts of "pot" unpacked, or filled with spp's it produces fine 96% hearts. I want to run it as a pot for a peaty session, but think it maybe would be wiser to take it slow for the spirit run and pack some spp's and _really_ find those peatey sections. Work with really small jars in the tails section to get a really good separation of bitter tails and holy peatyness. Witch approach would you more seasoned distillers say?
Hi LordL. To start with, I’m not an expert so consider the source of this answer. ;-)

In the original batch that I fucked up, I added one liter of sweet water to eight liters of spirit that made my cut.

A few things led to my F up. First, I was taking a little wider tails cuts than normal. Lots of what I made during that period of time had heavier tails in them as I was learning how wide I could go and still like the spirit. Second, my sweetwater was taken too early in the run, I think. I was still seeing 2% ABV off of the still, and I think I should have run it down further, maybe 0%, before using that water. This is just speculation on my part, because I have not tried this a second time (yet).

I have made whiskey with a small amount of packing and some reflux. I don’t recall any issues with that, but I decided at some point just to stick with pot stilling for my whiskey and rum. I don’t do nearly as many batches as I used to, so now I focus on what I have proven to work well for me with more predictable results. That said, If you have a serious tails problem with a batch a little reflux and packing will help you get more good stuff out of it.

Best of luck. Let me know what you end up doing and how it turns out.

Otis
Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/Dimroth
Learning to Toast: Toasting Wood
Polishing Spirits with Fruitwood: Fruitwood
Badmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
Post Reply