Week 4

The color on the whiskey is a little darker. I don't think it's much of a change and it probably won't be anything drastic for awhile. It's probably drinkable now and has a good flavor, but I'll hold out for another month or so. I must say that I'm not an expert on rye whiskey, so I don't know when it's exactly mature compared to bourbon or scotch, but it's getting there. Another month should do it. Five would be overkill, I think.

Week 3

Sorry. I've been slacking on the new posts. Here are pictures from the past two weeks of the cask. The new one is a bit darker, though not so much where I'd be raving about it or amazed, but it's certainly more noticeable, though possibly not from my shoddy photos. It's still a little woody but I'm detecting a little bit of apples and maybe vanilla in the aftertaste. I'm liking it and I can't wait until it is truly ready to be consumed. I think I've already found the next thing I want to put in it: Fighting Cock bourbon. It's a young bourbon with a high proof that should go with will the aging process in the cask. I'll let you know.

Week 2

I'm a little late on this one, as I spent the weekend at a train show in Virginia. Bad news, I didn't get to sip any whiskey. Good news, I got to hang out with my brother and my adorable niece, so that was awesome. The show was busy and I'm tired and sore and need another day off, but that's another story.

Upon my return home, I pulled out the sample for this week. Not much darker this time. I have a photo that I can upload later to show this. If your'e my friend, you can see them on Facebook for the time being. If not, I'll have them up here soon enough. Taste is a little woodier, less fruity, which is nice, though I didn't get a full sample as Jen was watching. Drats, foiled again. :)

Cask of Rye

I got a DIY whiskey kit for Xmas from my wife and finally got the cask cured and filled over the weekend. It's a pretty cool little thing and it promises to be rather awesome altogether, as with it you put in the spirits and watch as they age over the weeks into a more mature and flavored drink. It's kind of like beer brewing, though with certainly less involved. It's more like the set it and forget it of brewing, as opposed to crafting it all yourself. I'll be posting pictures soon of it, as I have the cask and spirits from the weekend taken, but I'd like to take pictures of the first sample to see how the color has progressed. It should be getting darker with each week. This being the first week, there shouldn't be too much change, I figure, but it's worth a look.

I think I'll be doing this for at least a month or so. The instructions say 5 months, but everywhere I looked online said 4-7 weeks was more the deal, though they used regular whiskies that they were aging further, as opposed to cask strength spirits. We'll see. I'll let you know.