I think you just have to go for it if you believe in your approach. We have only recently begun putting things away, and are jumping all-in on putting away 53-gallon barrels as fast as we can (small team, so it's only about a barrel a week right now). We made trial batches and put in small (5G & 15G) barrels to see if we liked the direction of our mashbill. We did and conducted a number of blind tastings with aficionados, with great feedback. So, we are now spending massive $ on ingredients and barrels, using the techniques and recipes we've honed building up to the purchase of the production still.
We are very fortunate to have a brewery to cashflow everything and don't require immediate return.