Now Barrelling, More Bourbon!

I have to say, it is pretty nice to come home from work, grab a glass, some ice, and have a drink of (mostly) home-made bourbon. I also have to say that I have not shared my home-aged bourbon with anyone yet, because I am not super confident that anyone else will like it. Whatever. I like it. Like those parents* I'm sure we all know who've had an ugly kid that they still love no matter what, I love my bourbon.

Bottling it, though, leaves me with a problem: my barrel is empty! What to do? What to do?

Oh right, fill it up again.

Last post, I discussed the fact that I won't drink the bourbon I have fast enough (barring outside help, which I might get) to need another liter of bourbon in the house in three months. However, we don't always do things based on need, and I really want to try to take a cheap bourbon and add some flavor to it. So, that's what I'm going to do.

The first decision - which is actually the second decision, but I'm getting ahead of myself - was what bourbon to use. Moonshine was a good starting point for my first aging, but as the color and flavor didn't deepen as much as I'd like, I've decided to go with something a little farther along as the starting point. So, I will be using a cheap bourbon. Perusing the selection at my local liquor store, I narrowed my options to Rebel Yell, Evan Williams, and Jim Beam. I passed on Jim Beam because though I am far from being a connoisseur, I know what I don't like, and it's called "Jim Beam". So, I tossed a coin and went with the dollar-more-expensive Rebel Yell. It was also in a glass bottle as opposed to plastic, which isn't that big a deal, but I like it a little more.

For less than the cost of 750mL of Eagle Rare, I walked out with 1.75L of Rebel Yell, more than enough for what I wanted to try. The one downside is that the Rebel Yell is only 80 proof, meaning the resulting liquor will be diluted even further (to about 60 proof by my previous proof calculations (technically, I believe, this is out of the accepted range for calling it "bourbon", but as I'm not planning on selling this, I don't think that really matters, especially if it tastes good)).

Rebel Yell is actually pretty decent. A good smoky odor with a definite layer of sweetness, light in the mouth, and a slight burn as it goes down. Smoother than Jim Beam (my low mark), but not as smooth as Eagle Rare (my high mark for smoothness in my limited experience). I could see myself drinking it regularly. In fact, I would argue it is very similar to my first batch of home-aged bourbon. My bourbon has a stronger odor that permeates your mouth as you taste it, and is slightly less smooth on the finish, but all in all, I would say they are comparable. Even the color is about the same. Rebel Yell is a little sweeter, though.

Recipe for awesomeness!

(Ignore the oils and vinegars
in the background. And the
food processor. I need a better
picture space)

The second decision was no decision at all, as noted above, and was the flavoring to be used. I knew from a few weeks into my first bourbon what I wanted to do next: maple. I stopped by Trader Joe's and picked up a small bottle of Grade B (i.e. "The Good Stuff" - don't let the grade fool you: A stands for "Alright", B stands for "Better"**), roughly 350mL.

Immediately after bottling the previous batch of bourbon, I measured out 1.5L of the Rebel Yell and added it to the barrel. I suppose I could have rinsed out the barrel, but I don't really see the point. I figure one of the selling points of aging in your own barrel is getting all the flavors of other things you've aged. Unless you want something to be really clean, then there's no need to rinse it out. For this, I'm aging more bourbon, so I'm not really concerned that there might be some bourbon left in the barrel.

To this, I added the ~350mL of maple syrup awesomeness, and topped the barrel off with about 150mL of water. Wiping of the overflow, I plugged the bunghole, gave it a few good rolls back and forth, and set it on the stand to mapleize the bourbon.

I am looking forward to the first tasting!

Up next: Tasting!


*I'm not suggesting anyone reading this has ugly kids, but if you do, don't worry, it's probably not your fault. It's just genetics.

**This is not the way the naming system actually works.