Does spirit age without oaking

[Cols15]

Hi all,

I made some lemmon whiskey -

1.3kg Lemon (chopped)
1 x tablespoon dap
2 x vitamin tablets
4kg sugar
Top up to 25lt
Adjust ph (calcium carbonate)

I did a number of gens and collected low wines, after a spirit and cuts I ended u 3.3lt of product. I diluted it down to 65% and had a small taste (at 40%).
It tasted of tails, it had a musty after taste that lingered after the inital lemon hit.

After a week of of airing I diluted a sample to 40%, it tasted similar to the first test but the after taste wasn't quite as strong. .. But it was still bad.

I had recently read a thread where the doc talked about tinctures, so I zested a bunch of lemons and added that to the 65% jar leaving it to infuse for a few days.
At 2week's after the spirit run I tasted the product again, I could taste the extra flavor from the lemon and there was only just the slights hint of musty tails.

Sorry for the long winded explanation, my question is would it be the flavor from the lemon zest hiding the tails flavour or is it the spirit aging? Does spirit age by itself. .. If so would the change be noticeable in the first 2weeks?

[whiskeyshiner]

I believe vodka is still meant to be left for a month before drinking so there must be some kind of aging but to mellow tails without oak i think your a bit ambitous maybe redistill or get some oak :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Cols15]

Thank you for the reply Whiskeyshiner.

The Spirit has already mellowed, I'm happy with it as it is. I was wondering why it has mellowed, or is it the lemon zest covering the tail taste?

[res]

I would say spirits mature without oak, particularly when exposed to the air.
When you add water to the equation there is yet another opportunity for change as the different liquids find the equilibrium.
When whisky is blended time is allowed for the flavors to "marry", I would imagine this is true for any spirit.

P. S if you make a spirit with sugar and lemons might not quite be whisky. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Sounds pretty tasty none the less. Good luck with it. ;-)

[Brendan]

Although they say that spirits stop ageing once they're bottled, I'm sure they're referring to those which have already been aged long term in a barrel.

I know I've had many bottles of feints both early and deep tails, which after a year smell amazing...would never drink them though :puke-huge:

All my vodka I leave in a big glass jar for a few months before bottling, and it always mellows out and improves. Even some of my white dog whiskey, I've noticed the tails smooth out over time in glass with the occasional shaking and airing :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[dogbreath vodka]

Couple of years ago I had some nasty white dog bottled up, bit too much tails.
Never really looked at it for over a year.

Got desperate one night and decided that it with coke would be good.
So tried a bit on ice first.... damn it was good stuff.
That bottle was drunk with ice and water only and lasted a week. :handgestures-thumbupleft: :D

Even sitting in a bottle, time can help some lower quality spirit come good.
Put some aside and experiment.
Just remember to mark on it the date and how it was distilled.

DBV

[Urrazeb]

I have proof that it gets better even bottled up at 40%, I ran an oat whiskey and thought it was shit and after two months showed no sign of improvement, but I cracked a bottle last night and me and my mate were amazed at the improvement :handgestures-thumbupleft: it definitely gets better in the absence of oak.

[Cols15]

What is the consensus on bottle aging a.b.v?

When you guys do it with vodka do you just let it sit at whatever a.b.v it came off the still at? Then after a month dilute it drinking strength. ..

[Urrazeb]

I have found it will smooth out quicker at high abv

[Cols15]

Thanks Urrazeb :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Cols15]

Thought I would tag this question onto the bottle aging thread.

When is the best time to bottle?

After oaking is it best to keep spirit at the oaking ABV and dilute a bottle or two as needed?

[Urrazeb]

If I am happy with it I will bottle it up. Bottling definitely slows the whole process down, depending on how much fresh air you let into the bottle on a regular basis

[Rush006]

I found a bottle of 40% neutral spirit in the back of the liquor cabinet my father had sent me. it would have been 2 to 3 years old. it was so smooth i drank it as a sipper. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Sam.]

I found a bottle of 40% neutral spirit in the back of the liquor cabinet my father had sent me. it would have been 2 to 3 years old. it was so smooth i drank it as a sipper. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Have you got any left? If so check the ABV it may be lower than when it started ;-)

[Cols15]

Thanks for the reply Urrazeb.

I need to find a good source of glass. At the moment I have a collection of all different type/size bottles, it may be my o.c.d kicking in but I can't bring myself to put one type of spirit into different types of bottles.


It seems most people like rush006 belive bottle aging is beneficial. .. Only problem is once it's bottled is hard to leave it alone.

[Rush006]

I found a bottle of 40% neutral spirit in the back of the liquor cabinet my father had sent me. it would have been 2 to 3 years old. it was so smooth i drank it as a sipper. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Have you got any left? If so check the ABV it may be lower than when it started ;-)

All gone :-D

I do have 1 jar of cumquat liqueur made out of some of it. Everyone that has tried that loves it. 8-}