Home Distiller

Hi friends

I hope you can advise or advise me on this matter!

In another thread about aging with toasted walnut shells, I mentioned that I was also trying other woods from different fruit trees ...
Like apple, plum, mandarin, walnut and American ash, all of this has already gone by for approximately 11 months and all (from jar 1 to 6) went through 6 nuck cycles in the microwave and 3 nights in the freezer every 2 cycles.
After this nuclear storm, I left them at rest for almost a month with the woods in the bottles at a high alcohol content, after the month, remove the woods and let the liquid rest alone, until today ...
I was ventilating them from time to time, and I also clarified that they are all made from tri-distilled corn alcohol at 80% abv.

I detail according to the photo what is the order of each bottle and how they look today ...

1: roasted nutshell (medium roast) looks somewhat cloudy
2: roasted plum (medium roast) looks somewhat cloudy
3: apple chips (50% medium roasted and 50% unroasted)
4: walnut chips (50% medium roasted and 50% unroasted)
5: burnt ash (strong roasted)
6: tangerine toast (medium roast) looks somewhat cloudy
7: same distillate but 3 chili peppers (here they are called chiles-locoto or campanilla) rested for 1 week and after removing them they rest with toasted American oak staves and burned at 65% abv
8: same distillate but 10 peppercorns rested for 2 weeks and after removing them they rest with American oak staves toasted and burned at 65% abv
9: neutral wheat with burnt and toasted staves and some apple and walnut chips at 65% abv

- Question number 1: Does anyone have a certain knowledge if some of these woods are toxic for human consumption? or can they be used without problem?
- Question number 2: if they are not toxic, how do you think you should combine them to give the final product a better flavor?

It should be noted that the aroma between one and the other are very different, but they all smell very good, some smoky aromas especially in the ash, quite floral and sweet in the mandarin, the chili pepper smells like soft and sweet coffee,
and the pepper one brings back memories of some artisan gin.
Also to combine with these products I have 2 bottles of 3 liters each with 70% corn alcohol and 30% wheat, resting on medium toasted American oak staves and some caiman skin and 1 equal to these
but 3 months ago I removed the oak and added 3 staves of medium toasted American oak impregnated with sherry for 2 months (it smells wonderful)

All my comments refer to the aroma and not the flavor, and the few times I tried to taste them they still seemed very wooded, so I plan to only combine them and let them rest in the medium or long term

(patience is my friend and we get along very well !! hahaha)

I accept any constructive suggestion or advice on what I should do with all these products or what attempts you would make so that I can combine or continue aging with other woods.

a big greeting !!!!

https://homedistiller.org/forum/downloa ... w&id=76812

From what I've read, they are best left on the wood and wouldn't have 'aged' much in the past 11 months.

I suggest you do your own research on toxicity, as I do.

I did… over did chili peppers once. Left them in for to long. The dark red peppers turned white and my booze turned to some nasty stuff. . I used it for medicinal purposes….

The combination of blend will depend on the guy doing the blend.

I have tried nuke aging. It has an impact on color and flavor, but to ME, It didn’t impart that smooth mellowed age of time and oak. It did drink it, but it isn’t the same as time aged in MY experience.

On nuking, I don't have much experience on aging spirits, so I do find the nuking helps give you an idea as to whether the spirit is going in a direction I like..... but, assuming it is, it needs alot of time to smooth or mellow out as suggested above.

(I don't actually nuke but rather, hot-cold-cycling: I don't use a microwave and the great outdoors this time of year is better than any freezer)

No comment on the blend or different woods.

80% is awful high for aging on wood. Try dropping to 50-65 and see how you like the results