How To Age Liquor In An Oak Barrel

Most bottles of high-end liquors boast of some type of extended aging procedure.  The aging process may even be included in the brand name; for instance, Macallen 12.  The longer the aging process, the more expensive the liquor bottle will be.  Why is this so?  Well, many things that happen to liquid when it aged in an oak barrel.  And, an oak barrel is the vessel that is most commonly used to age spirits.  The process can consume a full year, but can take just a few weeks if a small at-home oak barrel is used.

The oak barrel should be placed in a humid area where the temperature will vary during the day.  Contraction and expansion of the liquid is essential to the aging process.  The liquor must expand into the wooden walls of the oak barrel.  Liquid is able to penetrate almost halfway into the edge of the barrel.  Then, as ambient temperature drops, the liquid recedes back into the barrel's interior and takes a lot of flavor from the barrel itself along with it.

You might hear lots of talk about wine tannins.  Tannins are particularly obvious in the taste of red wines.  They are also believed to originate from the stems and skins of grapes.  If an oak barrel has been used to age the wine, some of the tannins contained therein will have come from the actual wood used to construct the oak barrel.

The infusion of wood sugars into spirits is another key element in the liquor aging process.  Wood sugars are especially apparent in a charred oak barrel, as the heating process draws these natural elements from from the wood and into the liquor.  Wood sugars impart a slight sweetness and deep flavor to the liquor.  In general, oak barrel aging imparts a mixture of nutmeg, butterscotch, black pepper, cinnamon, and vanilla favors to the liquor.  The process also gives the liquid a much smoother feeling when it enters the mouth.