MacWhisky Recipe Discussion

[Milky]

It would be interesting to know how long someone has managed to keep this one on oak?

So...... Who has had some aging the longest?

[robduca]

Jan 2015 went on oak. Took it off last week. Haven't tried it yet :D

[Milky]

Jan 2015 went on oak. Took it off last week. Haven't tried it yet :D

Wow! That's some good restraint! Please tell us here when you do taste it!

[Sam.]

Pretty sure i got a gallon from august 2013. Should be nice. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
This is a seriously nice drink. I mucked around with generations and backset but the original recipe always came up the goods.

[Vatoe]

It would be interesting to know how long someone has managed to keep this one on oak?

So...... Who has had some aging the longest?

Back to the forum after a bit of a hiatus - life got in the way. I tell no lie but I have had some (approx 4 litres of each at 60%) on two different oaks (French and American) since 4/4/14! I have demolished three jars just recently and they have been bloody good. The last jar (american oak) I'm jealousy guarding, to see if I can go another year.

They have been so good, this will be my new mission to get enough of this stuff on rotation.

cheers

PS: The french oak ones were much darker in colour ( at least double) and had the edge over the american oaked jars in flavour.

[Roger]

Going to have a crack at this recipe and after reading the comments sounds like it'll be a cracker!

What are people using to age? French or American? And what is the favorites?

Looking to use 10g/litre at 65% French Oak Dominos medium toasted and try and leave it alone for a year. I do have enough stock to keep me happy over this time, but the reviews on here have raved about how good it is, so will be hard to leave alone other than a few "tastings".

cheers

[EziTasting]

PS: The french oak ones were much darker in colour ( at least double) and had the edge over the american oaked jars in flavour.

Yes, please give us more detail!

I've heard it before that French oak is better, but that could just be opinion... How much did you use (gm /L)? What level of roast (light/med/dark)?

[Swedish Pride]

so how is this vs a barley ag?
not really done sugar and grain before, done AG and sugar heads but never a combo

[Vatoe]

PS: The french oak ones were much darker in colour ( at least double) and had the edge over the american oaked jars in flavour.

Yes, please give us more detail!

I've heard it before that French oak is better, but that could just be opinion... How much did you use (gm /L)? What level of roast (light/med/dark)?

Sorry missed this. I used one french oak domino (approx. 10 cm in length, medium) to one jar at 60% and guessing about 2 liters in volume. The colour went a dark brown (close to a mahogany) pretty quickly at first then settled. It had the edge over the american oak in flavour in my opinion as it seem to pull more from the wood.If you have tried Woodford Reserve 'distillers select' it around that in very broad terms but much darker in colour.

[bluc]

PS: The french oak ones were much darker in colour ( at least double) and had the edge over the american oaked jars in flavour.

Yes, please give us more detail!

I've heard it before that French oak is better, but that could just be opinion... How much did you use (gm /L)? What level of roast (light/med/dark)?

Throw in my 2 cents french always colours faster and side by side ends up a lot darker. I find it flavours up faster also but would not call it better both provide nice flavours but i like french in rum and american in whiskey..

[TasSpirits]

:text-+1: on the colouring up, jury is still out on the long term flavour. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[EziTasting]

That's good to know and supports what I have read before!

What would you change with long term oaking? Or would you just leave one domino in there for up-to a year...?

[TasSpirits]

That's good to know and supports what I have read before!

What would you change with long term oaking? Or would you just leave one domino in there for up-to a year...?

Hard to say Ezi, I long term age in barrels, I have a few different brews on Am Oak that I plan to leave long term, French is relatively new to me so apart from the quick colour up I really cant comment. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Vatoe]

That's good to know and supports what I have read before!

What would you change with long term oaking? Or would you just leave one domino in there for up-to a year...?

Mine were in just over two years and I would say just about perfect in flavour - I guess the smaller volume/wood ratio allows it to 'age' quicker?

[EziTasting]

That's good to know and supports what I have read before!

What would you change with long term oaking? Or would you just leave one domino in there for up-to a year...?

Mine were in just over two years and I would say just about perfect in flavour - I guess the smaller volume/wood ratio allows it to 'age' quicker?

I have taken that away early on from the newbie section, but have been confused by conversations of 'over-oaking'...

So there's is THIS thread, that talks about leaving it (the oak) in for a year or 2, while others state theirs is over oaked after several months... Is this a personal taste issue, fallacy or does the 'over-Oaking' go away if you leave it in there for, say, a year?

I realise that no one has probably done the test on this and it's a more speculative question, but what are your thoughts?

[Zak Griffin]

Over-oaking is just as much about g/L as it is time...

[Vatoe]

Over-oaking is just as much about g/L as it is time...

Agreed, in my opinion (for what it is worth) this is exactly the issue. Just consider how much liquor is put in a normal size barrel and therefore the surface area that the liquor coming into contact with and the extended length of time they leave it in the barrel (plus natural loss/angels share) and it then really comes down g/l + time. What the exact formula is I dont know, but certainly there was definitely no over oaking on my batches. The beauty is you can have 'taste' through the aging process, just water it down to around ~40% mark and try it. There is no harm in doing this and as a side benefit of doing this it allows the liquor to have a 'breath' when you open the jar - which was something I was doing once every couple of months or so anyway when I remembered anyway. Who knows, my two years small batch could have been equivalent to 12 or more years large batch??

[Revelations]

So I've just put a batch of this into the fermenter. Hoping the results are what everyone is claiming. I will post results of this when I have run it through the still.

[Vatoe]

I put a batch down (55 Litres) as well, but added 500 grammes of rye flour, to assess its impact ultimately on flavour.

[Cheersbigears]

G'Day All
Looking at putting a 60lt batch down so it's ready to go when my new still turns up. Is just doubling up ok? Use raw sugar I would say as well? The Ale or Pilsner Malt is that the coopers stuff to make beer? or am I way off the mark here. The caramalt liquid extract can you get this from Woolies or is there something similar there that is the same and will do.