Whisky ageing kit

[Acksboy]

Can anyone offer any info/advice? I've seen miniature casks that you can buy online which you can fill with new make spirit and leave to maturate for a few weeks (short maturation time due to a greater spirit to surface area ratio).
I find it to be an intriguing idea and would also be interested to find out how easy it would be to obtain new make spirit from reputable distilleries as much of the new make spirit you can buy commercially doesn't look up to much.

[TheWM]

I think the science is sound. The problem(s) that you might encounter are:

You'll need to soak the cask with a beverage - that will cost, depending on what you use.

Buying new make isn't as cheap as it should be.

Any losses through leaks and evaporation would lead to each dram costing more.

Given the above, I have yet to find a way to make this a cost effective way to make/age different expressions.

But - don't take my word for it, it's been a while since I last checked, some american moonshine stuff (white dog I think it's called), may be lower in price now and easier to get hold of. The last new make (Scottish) I bought was £16 for 200 ml....

[sorren]

I have done this quite a few times, firstly it is not easy to get new make, especially more than small quantities, you can get some from newer distilleries in 20,50cl bottles, but you could also get some cask strength whisky and mature on for a while.. I tried some different finishes like sherry and port, also some extra maturation and some new make too, it is good fun and interesting.. Good luck and keep us informed..

[Andy M]

These mini barrels can have quite an intense influence on the whisky. Distilleries have made new make spirit available from time to time, although I don't think there is much available at the moment. You may find some Abhainn Dearg new make spirit from some whisky shops, it was bottled at 46%

[Acksboy]

Thanks guys, appreciate your input.

I have seen some casks come with their own new make spirit to add but I'd really like to get my hands on some decent stuff. Best I've seen so far is Highland Park 35cl at £21 a pop - a potentially costly project depending on the size of cask bought.
Another drawback I've read is that each cask is really only good for 3 or so fills - much the same as full size. Given that maturation only takes a few weeks and the Angel's share is a fair bit greater than normal, I would need to buy a new cask quite frequently. Would this be right enough?
In the end I think I'll give it a shot and see how it goes, what's the worst that could happen...? Loch Dhu mark 2?

[sorren]

Don't get the few weeks set in your head.. I had mine in for 3 months, you could try scraping it out after a few fills and re Charing the inside.. You might get another one or two fills out of it, my casks were 2 and 5 litre casks, the 2 ltr cask was left for 1 month before I started to check it.. 3 months later it was perfect for me..

[Acksboy]

I was thinking the 2 ltr cask would be a good starting point. Can I ask if you'd recommend soaking the cask prior with bourbon, sherry etc? Kits I've seen don't make any mention of this but it would seem illogical not to try and enhance some extra flavour from the cask.
The re-charring sounds like a great idea, I hope my coopering skills are up to the task!

[IndianaBlues]

A few good things about pre-soaking with another spirit:
-You can start that off now while you hunt for your new make spirit
- You can test to see how watertight your cask is - I've noticed quite a few reviews online saying how they've emptied the contents either immediately or after a few days.

[Acksboy]

Thank you for the advice. I'm going to go ahead and order a 1 litre barrel and fill it with new make Highland Park and see how I get on. I've yet to decide what to flavour the barrel with first though. All going well it's certainly something I'd like to experiment about with!