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Aging Rum


rumfarmer

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I am curious about the variety of barrels tried when aging rum. Has anyone had experience aging in wine barrels? I've heard Rogue tried using Pinot Noir barrels and ended up with a pink spirit. Also curious about duration in a used wine barrel.

Thanks in advance.

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I recently sampled a rum aged in an ex-bourbon barrel in a blind tasting.

I, and some others in the group mistook it for a bourbon in an ex-rum barrel.

If you shave and charr a wine barrel there should be only minimal contribution from the wine.

Can't comment on fresh wine barrel for rum.

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  • 3 months later...

I've tried a fresh wine barrel with some interesting results. I'm using used bourbon barrels for primary aging, but i am also using rum aged in different types of barrels and wood to use as flavor enhancers/ finishing during blending. Getting great result so far.

Good Luck

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...

I've tried a fresh wine barrel with some interesting results. I'm using used bourbon barrels for primary aging, but i am also using rum aged in different types of barrels and wood to use as flavor enhancers/ finishing during blending. Getting great result so far.

Good Luck

What other woods have you tried. I am going to order some new barrels shortly, and I am curious about your results.

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Since there isn't any specifics on how rum has to be aged, you're sort of wide open. So...........cherry wood blocks adds a nice touch to the used oak barrels. Also try some pecan slabs, real nice secondary flavor. Light toast on the exotics though, not charred.

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  • 2 years later...

For those that are using barrels to age rum, what ABV are you putting the rum in at (i.e drinking strength (80 proof) or more like 125 Proof)?

How long are you aging the rum? We are planning to use used whiskey barrels to age rum.

Like anything else. Around the 120-130.

And 6 months seems to work well. A year seems to cover up the rum notes.

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Will work fine. Just be sure to rinse all the whiskey out. Rum is rum, don't taint it with harsh, chared tasting whiskey. Sherry or brandy barrel is my first choice, followed by dark toast wine that's had a deep red in it.

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Done a lot since 2011 when this post started. All the rum I now age starts in 15 gallon new oak (until the second fills, of course). I do secondary finishing in 53 gallon whisky casks and also 60 gallon neutral white wine barrels. The wine are French Oak. I agree with Porter that going heavy into a whisky cask changes the rum a lot. It starts to be a lot less like rum and more like a whisky. The wine barrels keep the product more rum like, but the character still changes a lot. I personally like it, but I am still not sure what the ultimate barrel expression of our rum will look like. I am in Hawaii so my barrels are hot all the time. 6 months in small oak is nice, but longer is still better to me. I also start with a full-bodied agricole, so a lot of character is in the product at the beginning.

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  • 3 years later...
4 hours ago, Black Creek said:

Any thoughts on stainless steel and spirals?

Spirals are expensive, depending on the quantity you're aging. Are you planning on suspending or bagging or just dropping them in?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Bagging. Using 30 gallon drums. 150 gallon fermenters and 52 gallon still.  Vendor can make a mix of chars and bag in appropriate amount for the drum. Leaning toward a mix of med and med+ char mixed. Very small batches to start until I get it just like the boss (my wife)  wants.

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  • 1 month later...

Why not consider making your own Oak pieces to add. Its not that hard. I am experimenting with alternative woods as I am in South American and I am trying some woods that are used with Cachaca to age whiskey and I am getting some interesting results.  I havent tried it with Rum but with whiskey yes.  To toast your own wood its relatively simple actually and a lot cheaper.  I use a little electric oven with temperature control. IF your dose rate is between 5 to 10 grams per litre of spirit you will only need to toast about 250 to 500 grams at a time.  and That will give you enough Oak for 3 x 50 l barrels of cask strength spirit. Anyway I am doing it because I am using alternative woods.  Good luck. 

 

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I had a bunch of old growth white oak that I threw under my deck, it was there 4 or 5 years, completely forgot about it.  Cut it down, toasted it, charred it, damn it was so much better than fresh kiln dried wood from the good lumber yard.

The seasoning process for the wood/stave, it really is a very important step.

Get a nice piece of good quality wood, leave it outside for at least a year, a place where it will be subjected to sun, rain, weather, etc.  Even longer is better.  It's going to look like garbage, warped, etc.  Put it through a planer to shave off just a touch of the gray ugly outside bits, revealing what looks like new wood again.  THEN do whatever you want to do with it, toasting, charring, etc.

I'm telling you, it's like night and day.  Absolutely none of that puckering dry oaky tannin.

I'd love to find some old white oak barn wood siding that was never painted, 50 years old, and make a whiskey out of an old barn.

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6 hours ago, Silk City Distillers said:

 

I'd love to find some old white oak barn wood siding that was never painted, 50 years old, and make a whiskey out of an old barn.

I absolutely LOVE this idea. Its not hard to find reclaimed barn wood - if you ran it through a planer enough to get rid of ALL the paint (got to have lead in it if its old) then toast and char? Or perhaps toast it in a smoker?  This is what great stories are made of!

Silk  - this is brilliant! I got a smoker - bring me a box of wood and try this out!

-Scott 

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1 minute ago, Elixir Distilling Company said:

I absolutely LOVE this idea. Its not hard to find reclaimed barn wood - if you ran it through a planer enough to get rid of ALL the paint (got to have lead in it if its old) then toast and char? Or perhaps toast it in a smoker?  This is what great stories are made of!

Silk  - this is brilliant! I got a smoker - bring me a box of wood and try this out!

-Scott 

Except if you find good old white oak barnwood, that stuff is worth a fortune as finish wood for cabinetry and interior construction. We did our floors out of 150 year old resawn oak barn timbers, it's gorgeous.

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3 minutes ago, bluestar said:

Except if you find good old white oak barnwood, that stuff is worth a fortune as finish wood for cabinetry and interior construction. We did our floors out of 150 year old resawn oak barn timbers, it's gorgeous.

No one says you cant take your just used infusing wood to build a cabinet out of when your done with your aging............... Even better!

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19 hours ago, Elixir Distilling Company said:

No one says you cant take your just used infusing wood to build a cabinet out of when your done with your aging............... Even better!

True, except you would have to cut it down to smaller pieces maybe, and you might lose the original look after water exposure. We sawed the most amazing 10" x 12' long floor boards out of those old oak barn beams... ?

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