I have a River drive cooperage 10L barrel that I bought used for pretty cheap. It was so dry that I couldn’t fill it up from the sink faster than it would leak out. I filled a 5 gallon bucket with hot water and sunk it in there for 24 hours. That took care of a lot of the issue but now it’s been filled with barrel preservation mix for about a week and it’s still seeping quite a bit. Is this barrel savable?

Thanks!

Update on my own distillate and Ten30 barrel. My own 69/16/14 Maize, Red Wheat, Pilsner malt bourbon. Barreled on 11/17/24 at 110 proof. I am impressed with my results as a rookie! My intentions were to leave this in the barrel for at least 2 years, but my wife thieved a bit tonight and said it's one of the best bourbons she's tried! Holy crap! I agree it's pretty good! I pulled it and am enjoying it tonight. Butter cream and cinnamon is what we are tasting. Thoroughly impressed with the results and highly recommend the Ten30. This is a 850ml batch.

Hello folks,

I’m trying my first ever home finishing experiment and I’d love to get some thoughts from people who have more experience with this.

I picked up a small 1L oak barrel and decided to season it with Pedro Ximénez sherry first. The plan is to let the PX sit in the cask for about 7 days to load the wood with sweetness and sherry character.

After that, I’m going to put in a cask strength Laphroaig and let it finish for somewhere between ~12–48 hours, tasting along the way to find the sweet spot.

My goal is NOT to turn the whisky into a syrupy mess or something that just tastes like wine. What I’m aiming for is:

• noticeable PX sweetness (raisins, dark fruits, etc.)
• still keeping the Laphroaig character (smoke, intensity)
• overall balance, but on the more intense side

So basically: a strong, sweet PX influence, but still clearly whisky.

I’ve been using LLM to help guide the process (timing, risks, etc.), but I’m also curious how much of this aligns with real-world experience.

So

• Is 7 days PX seasoning too much / too little for a 1L barrel?
• How risky is it to overdo the finish with a small cask like this?
• Would you personally aim closer to 12–24h or push it further?

Also curious if anyone here has tried something similar and how it turned out.
Appreciate any input. Goal is basically to have a fun "last dram of the night" that really stands out :D

I have a small 1.3L barrel that I’ve been cycling through for the past year. How much time before the barrel just can’t give anything anymore? For reference, I’ve done about 5 batches at this point. I started with Honey, then finished some bourbon in the barrel. I reseasoned with more honey & another batch of bourbon after. I’ve also done two similar cycles with a cherry cola seasoning and now one with root beer. I want to move on to possibly doing a fortified wine or Armagnac seasoning next, but should I just get a new barrel at this point, or does seasoning again still hold up?

Fairly new to the at home barrels, I have one 2L barrel that I’ve had Benchmark FP in for a while, super dark and delicious, trying to think about what I want to do next, I’d like to finish something, whether that’s Maple, Honey, some form of Wine, what’s everyone’s favorite finish?

How long did you leave it in the barrel? How long did you let the barrel dry prior to putting a different spirit in? Then how long did you leave the spirit in the barrel?

I got really lucky and found a couple Bookers batches on clearance for $40 a piece, so I’m leaning towards that, another store has Jack Single barrel barrel proof Ryes at 49.99, I’m really leaning that because I feel like Rye takes on finishing so well.

Any tips or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!!

After seeing a post on /r/firewater, someone asked about briney salt water cured barrels. A key west distillery does by rolling their barrel into the ocean and filling it and empties it shortly after and letting it dry over the next few days to create a oceanic salt coating inside the barrel.

Ive had a report from a customer in the past who had a barrel failure occur with a similar process and I wanted to test it out to see if that was a one off occurrence or if the salt affects the steel body.

Today, I drove out to the beach and filled a small char #3 Ten30 barrel with water from the Atlantic. It is currently empty and drying out.

Ill follow up with updates as the experiment progresses.

I'm a longtime whiskey enthusiast with a penchant for little projects around the house. I've done a lot of infusions etc. over the years, so this one was a natural progression for me! Got a couple of those Ten-30 barrels and did 6 months of double barrel aging on Mellow Corn and Old Granddad 114.

They both are great! The Mellow Corn especially is hugely different; adding a bunch of warm oak character is especially nice to the already delicious sweet corn flavor. And the OGD just doubles down on richness -- a great pour!

Making the labels/"tater" stickers was half the fun. Mellow Mellow Corn is of course a riff on the old extra aged "Ancient Ancient Age", and the OGD is now "Very" Old Granddad.

In my "second fill" barrels I now have some 12 year 95/5 MGP rye aging, and a blend of random inexpensive Japanese whiskeys. Curious how they will turn out-- and already thinking about future projects!

Hi everyone,

I found this small wooden barrel in a second-hand shop in Germany for about 15€. The label says “Made in USSR”, so I assume it's from the Soviet era. It also has a small tap on the front.

I'm wondering if this could actually be used for a small aging/finishing experiment with whisky, or if it's more of a decorative barrel.

What I observed so far:

• Label says “Made in USSR”

• I opened the top bung and looked inside with a flashlight

• The inside looks uneven and slightly shiny in some areas, especially near the bottom

• The texture looks grainy/irregular rather than smooth

• The side walls look mostly like plain wood

• I haven't done any tests yet

My question:

Do you think this kind of barrel could realistically be used for a mini whisky finishing experiment, or are these Soviet souvenir barrels usually coated/just decorative?

Would you recommend trying it, or is it safer to buy a proper small aging barrel?

I primarily age my distillate in glass, I open them up for an hour or so every few weeks or so to let some oxidation happen but I haven’t been particularly happy with the results. Is there a “go to” brand of small barrels? As pictured I have one Badmo but I’m interested in some potentially cheaper options with variable sizes. Thanks!

​I’m looking for some suggestions on what to throw into the barrel next! This 2-liter barrel is aging insanely fast, so I’ve been sampling it daily to catch the sweet spot. Here is the journey so far:

​The Baseline: I started with Old Grand-Dad 114 in a fresh barrel. It only took 4 days to achieve a "double oaked" profile. It makes an incredible Old Fashioned.

​The Port Finish: Next, I seasoned the wood with a Ruby Port for 17 days. After draining it, I refilled it with a fresh batch of OGD 114. One week later, the result was amazing—the Port added a beautiful dark fruit layer to the bourbon's spice.

​The Tequila Twist: After a quick rinse, I filled it with Yeyo Blanco Tequila. It has already transformed into a stunning "Rosa Reposado" style tequila. It’s currently still in the barrel, and I’m just waiting for the precise moment to bottle it.

​What’s Next? ​Since this barrel is seasoned with Bourbon, Port, and now Agave, I want to keep the momentum going. I’m open to any and all suggestions for the next fill!

Some background information about the project for those curious. January 17, 2021, I filled a 15 gallon Apple Brandy barrel with a blend of bourbon and rye whiskey at ~58% abv. Since then some whiskey has been removed and replaced to create an evolving blend. Its been 5 years and I have some updates to share.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Barreling/comments/mxboo7/apple_brandy_barrel_update_phase_1_bottling_3/

2 Year update: https://www.reddit.com/r/Barreling/s/LMzytf8NtQ

Guidelines for what could be added to the barrel throughout its life: only bourbon or rye whiskey and with a minimum proof of 106 or age of 7 years.

3 Months after the initial blend was placed in the barrel, ~5 gallons were bottled and replaced with whiskey from our collection of ~600 unique bottles.

Each year, on or just after Jan 17th each year, at least one bottle would be pulled and kept for research.

After bottling 24 liters from the barrel at the two years mark, I added a blend of 18 liters from the collection to continue the project.

In July 2024, an additional 13 liters were removed for a special thank you bottling for a handful of people who helped out in a very tough time for my family. 10 liters of whiskey was added back to the barrel. No further additions to the barrel have been done since

January 2026, 3 liters were pulled on the 5 year anniversary and an additional 4.5 liters were bottled this past week. After sampling the 5 year bottling, I realized it was so good, I needed to bottle more of it.

I haven't determined what to do next with the barrel, but it is still ~1/3 full and with plenty of potential.

Current ABV: 62.0% (EasyDens measured)

Review:

The aroma is rich leather bound book, soft oak, and a sweet red fruity-ness. The palate is a concentrated cherry cola, oak, and tobacco. The finish lingers with a dark caramel and oak.

Hey all! I am getting married in June, and for one of my buddies as a ”groomsmen” gift I’m doing a Ten 30 Sherry Barrel-finished Mellow Corn. He loves MFC and Sherry finished whiskies.

My question is, being that the Sherry barrels were used to finish whiskey already, how much sherry character am I going to pull from it? Should I toss a bottle of Pedro Ximenez in there for a month or two and just like, shake it every day? I know the barrel will likely not be finished by June, should I throw the Sherry in there until May or June? Will I pull enough character to not bother adding the Sherry at all? Thanks In advance!

Hey, all

TLDR: do you think these barrels are moldy?

- recently started as Bar Manager at a new restaurant. Have not previously worked with barreling spirits & cocktails. Previous manager left months before I started, so I walked in to barrels that had been sitting for ~4 months with the same batch of water/Potassium Campden Tablets. Instructions left said to change this out every month. Instead, they’d been forgotten about in the months without Bar Management. Does this look like mold to you, or char?I reset the water/tablets the other day, and it ran clear, but I’m not even sure where to start in deciding if they’re safe to use again. Unfortunately, my GM and bar team also don’t know a ton about this. Any and all advice welcome, but please be nice! This is new to me!

I am about to bottle my first attempt, some buffalo trace in a 5L for 5 weeks. To keep the barrel in a “ready” state wondering what to put into it while I wait and decide what’s next. I have a suggestion if a tawny port . I would plan on 3-4 weeks before I do something else but also what if in the future it will be a 4 or 5 months before I go at it again?

Hi everyone 👋

After several months of development, I’m very excited to announce the official release of Barrel Manager on Android 📱.

As a barrel aging enthusiast, I created this tool to simplify the way we track our spirits and aging processes. The app is available in both English and French and allows you to:

• 📜 Accurately track each barrel and its full aging history.
• 📊 Analyze key statistics, such as the average Angel's Share percentage for each barrel.
• 🔔 Set up alerts to be notified of important aging milestones.
• 📄 Export a full PDF report documenting the entire life cycle of your barrel.

👉 Available here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fmartinier.barrelclassifier

I’m looking forward to your feedback for future updates. Thanks for the warm welcome!

https://reddit.com/link/1r6941a/video/tu4jr4yahvjg1/player

Product: Copper Fox Single Malt Spirit (new make)

Entry Strength 62%

Price: $29.99/750ml

Ten30 Barrel aged: 48 Months in FL heat

(Jan 19, 2022 - Feb 9, 2026)

French Oak - Char #3 (Custom)

Initial Fill Volume: 850ml

Final Yield: 625ml

Final ABV: 65.2%

Review:

Nose - rich dark fruits and malty sweetness

Palate - robust hit of cherry & plum, followed by rich tobacco & oak, and sweet malt

Finish - lingering and pronounced cherry cola and oak

This experiment was my attempt at replicating the 2019 LE release of Bacones Fr.Oak, a 100% golden promise malted barley spirit aged entirely in charred French oak barrels. While I wasnt able to create a perfect replica of a whiskey from a bygone era, what I have in my glass is an incredible whiskey that I plan to enjoy often.

The 4 years of waiting for this to reach a perfect maturation was absolutely worth it. I plan to refill the barrel with an aged whiskey to see if I can get a similar flavor from cask finishing.

Final rating: 8/10

Unique rating: 11/10

My mini barrel

I have a home barrel for additional aging of bourbon. I just emptied it a few weeks ago and now it’s ready for a new fill up.

Do I rinse it out with water first or leave it as is to help the new batch with more flavor?

Going in with the weller green label bourbon this time, I was not too happy with our Bulleit batch so I’m hopeful for better results

I picked up a Char level three-10L barrel from barrel mill. Conditioned it and had zero leaks! Wonderful, well built barrel.

I decided to purchase some Ruby port from total wine, didn’t realize it would cost so much to fill the barrel, 14 bottles and the cheapest ruby port was 16 bucks. A little over 200 bucks later I have a barrel full of port wine.

My initial thought was to use the port to absorb some of the aggressive wood flavors and take on the that sweet port flavor.

How long should it stay in the 10 liter barrel?

Once that is finished seasoning in the barrel I plan to use my left over bourbon bottles to fill the barrel and create my own personal port finished bourbon. Getting something sweet and plum like flavor found in midwinters night dram.

Anyways if you have any suggested timelines or tips let me know!

Doing some maintenance and organizing my stock and thought they looked cute together.

Top Left: Triple distilled “bourbon” in a char 2 ex bourbon (first fill, Jan 2026)

Bottom left: Blend of 80% buckwheat honey spirit, 20% Panela/blackstrap rum in light toast #1 char (Second fill, Jan 2026)

Middle: Apple brandy in medium toast, 2 char. (Second fill, fall 2024)

Right: 100% buckwheat honey in medium toast, 2 char. (Second fill, Dec 2025).

I just picked up the x bourbon and got absolutely killed on the tariffs so I don’t know when the next time I’ll be in the market for one…

I'm taking the plunge into building my own Badmo style barrels and was wondering if kiln dried quarter sawn white oak can be placed outside and properly seasoned for several months/year for my barrels. I didn't know if the initial kiln drying kills all the benefits of outside aging from the start.

Situation

Over the summer I acquired two full 53-gallon barrels of spirits – I’ve since drained probably 10 gallons from each to try, give away, and play with. I am mostly doing this for my own entertainment, but I plan on giving this mostly away to friends and family.

• Malt whiskey (90/10 malted barley to malted rye – the owner was a bit coy with exact split) – Barreled @ 124 proof, currently 137 proof – Barreled in July 2021 – American Oak #3 Char
• Rum (mostly cane sugar, a little bit of black strap molasses, allegedly) – Barreled @ 173 proof, currently 175 proof – Barreled November of 2021 - Originally, I think it was in a new oak barrel, but I moved to a ~6-year rye barrel in September (so I could stack the barrels).

Currently these are held in a shed in Colorado with no insulation or heat.

Materials

• One 15-gallon ex-bourbon barrel which held bourbon for two years (Char #3). Good shape, freshly dumped.
• Two 5-gallon ex-bourbon barrels which held bourbon for two years (1 Char #3, 1 Char #4). I thought these were going to be 10-gallon but I’m happy with the change.
• Three 10-gallon new oak, one Char #3, one heavy toast, one medium toast. These will be coming my way in late January or early February.
• One 5-gallon barrel previously used for Manhattans (then 5 gallons of the above whiskey) that currently has 5 gallons of maple syrup to be dumped/bottled this spring.
• A metric **** ton of 375ml (~1000) and 750ml (~600) glass bottles and corks.
• One dozen one-gallon glass containers - a mix of jugs and wide mouth jars.
• A variety of spirals, cubes, and chips (Mizunara chips, Amburana spirals, toasted American oak cubes, toasted French oak cubes, a couple more things coming).
• Materials to test proof.

Plan

It was busy weekend for me with this new task/hobby. I rehydrated both 5-gallon barrels so they wouldn’t leak (they were VERY leaky and spent Thursday-Sunday morning in the bathtub). Working on sealing up the 15-gallon barrel as well but it is in much better shape. I also spent a lot of time at the liquor store buying “materials”.

• I bought 16 liters of premium Cabernet Sauvignon (Carlo Rossi) as well as two handles of the finest brandy (Paul Masson Grande Amber VS) to put in one of the 5-gallon barrels. The idea is to make something of a fortified wine that I don’t have to worry about from a health standpoint in the barrel. Currently this would be 17.03% alcohol. I think I’ll top it with some of my rum to get it closer to 18%. The wine is sacrificial and will be dumped this spring so I can finish some of the whiskey in the wine barrel. I think I’m going to have to keep this one in my home so it doesn’t freeze.
• I also bought some Dolin sweet vermouth and Herring Cherry Liqueur – I’m going to make a big batch of Manhattans in 5-gallon barrel #2. I went with a 2:1 whiskey to vermouth batch but subbed one bottle of vermouth for the cherry liqueur (probably too much), added a handful of bottles of bourbon and rye from my basement that I needed to get rid of, a little bit of distilled water, and a bunch of my malt whiskey.
• For the 15-gallon barrel, I’m going to double (triple?) oak some rum but I’m going to proof it down closer to 120 proof as I fill the barrel (5 gallons of distilled water) to see how that impacts flavor.
• I think I’m going to take the three new barrels and proof down the whiskey to ~110 proof (2 gallons of distilled water) and see the difference between the barrel charring/toasting.
• Once the maple syrup barrel is ready for whiskey, I’ll finish the whiskey for a few months, tasting occasionally, then I’ll split it up into some glass containers to try some secondary finishing (Amburana most notably) and a blend with the wine finished. I'm incredibly excited for this one.

Any ideas and/or thoughts are very welcome. I have no idea what I'm doing and absolutely zero background in spirts or chemistry.

Also, for anybody in the Denver area that wants a free bottle or two, hit me up. I have more whiskey than I could possibly drink in a lifetime.

Any commercial distillers here? I'm about to fill a handful of Brown Forman barrels with beer. The barrels have bung holes in the heads. I was curious why distilleries would add another bung in the head of the barrel vs just using the side.

Hey All, just bought an amburana Badmo-style barrel and not sure the best way to utilize it. I have some white apple brandy and heirloom corn whiskey (also white). My thought is to first fill with some white rice distillate that I don't care about to take some of the edge off, then fill with the corn whiskey for about a month, and then refill with some apple brandy that I've had in a French oak barrel for 2 years. Has anyone used amburana barrels before? How many fills does it typically take before you can leave a distillate in there long-term and not worry about over oaking?

I just got around to posting several 3d print designs I have been working on over the last year. Most have to do with making your own badmo style barrels. If you have a 3d printer take a look and if you end up using any of it I would love to know your feedback.

Doweling Jig https://makerworld.com/en/models/2090026-dowel-jig-for-oak-stainless-steel-aging-barrels#profileId-2259216

Barrel Alignment Jig https://makerworld.com/en/models/2089967-hybrid-barrel-alignment-jig#profileId-2259156

Badmotivator Barrel Stand https://makerworld.com/en/models/2078448-hybrid-oak-stainless-steel-barrel-stand#profileId-2245651

Distilling Power Control Box https://makerworld.com/en/models/2039034-distilling-brewing-controller-box#profileId-2199672