The whiskey world is not short on products and tools to enhance your whiskey drinking experience. Sure, everyone has heard of the mini whiskey barrels that spiked in popularity several years back. However, you might not have heard of a water bottle-like aging vessel which is most-appropriately called Oak Bottle. Oak Bottle is a product made of solid oak, bored out, and charred on the inside to rapid age/rapid oak your favorite wine, spirits, cocktails, or beers. Oak Bottle was generous in sending us their Mini Oak Bottle for testing. The Oak Bottle is available in three sizes and starts at $69.95:
Micro – 150 mL
Mini – 355 mL
Original – 750 mL
What a better way to provide feedback on a product than an extensive test. The first thing that came to mind to really test this product was to age a white dog spirit. This would allow us to really see the impacts of barrel in real time.
The Experiment:
We started out with a 375 mL bottle of White Dog Mash #1 from Buffalo Trace. Buffalo Trace sells this unaged, 125 Proof spirit for about $15. Mash #1, when aged, goes on to become some of Buffalo Trace’s most popular bourbons; Buffalo Trace, Colonel E.H. Taylor Bourbon, George T. Stagg, and Eagle Rare. While we didn’t quite expect to produce this year’s batch of Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, we were excited to see how much oak, color, and (most importantly) flavor influence we could gain from Oak Bottle.
At the end of the experiment, we had allowed the White Dog to age for 14 days. Samples were drawn from the Oak Bottle for color and flavor comparisons at regular intervals, 1 day, 3 day, 5 days, 7 days, and finally at 14 days. On day 14, it seemed as if the Oak Bottle had exerted its full amount of influence over the spirit and we decided to stop the experiment. Below, you will find the color comparison of the samples, labeled with their age. As you can see, even after 1 day in the bottle, the color difference was pretty remarkable. Frankly, the color surprised me after just 24 hours. A summary of the tasting notes can be found just below.
TASTING NOTES
Day 0 – White Dog Mash #1
The unaged spirit was high on alcohol and not short on flavor. On the nose, the grains dominated. The rye spiciness came through along with the corn, which was expected. Black pepper, apples, and pears were immediately present on the palate. More subtle cherry, mint, and sugarcane notes were left along with a slightly astringent mouthfeel.
Day 1
More of the notes found in the unaged spirit were muted by the surprising amount of oak that had released early. However, apples and pears were present along with a more apparent peach note, almost like a peach Jelly Bean. Black pepper and smokey oak were left lingering in the astringent day old whiskey.
Day 3
Three days of age brought about more tannic flavors, nearly reminding me of the notes you get from an empty cigar box; musty, but pleasant, cedar wood. A butterscotch and salty note were also apparent. It is pretty remarkable the impact of three days in the oak.
Day 5
The whiskey continued to improve and rounded of the youthful, alcoholic notes that were to be expected. Salted caramel, cherry and cinnamon were now present. The finish was shorter, but had some lingering smokey characteristics.
Day 7
I went back to compare to Day 5 as it was nearly indecipherable from Day 7. Black pepper was a note that re-appeared in this day’s tasting. The color had not shifted much either. I decided at this point to extend the next interval of tasting.
Day 14
The color of the 14 day old whiskey was noticeably darker, deeper mahogany than previous samples, including Day 7. It has the appearance of a flat cola. On the nose, I immediately sensed spicy cinnamon and thought about Dr. Pepper. Salty air was also present on the nose. The palate is smokey, oaky, and cinammon cherries. The mouthfeel is slightly syrupy but mouth-drying, likely from the oak influence. Given the progression from White Dog, I believe that 14 days in Oak Bottle produced a oaky version of a younger bourbon you might find on today’s shelves. It is not characteristic of Buffalo Trace products, but it does possess notes of some complex whiskies. However, it is lacking the rich, long, lingering finish of a well-aged bourbon.
Final Thoughts:
The Oak Bottle is an excellent, high quality product that is perfect for the person who likes to experiment. Maybe you have a bottle of whiskey that wasn’t your favorite as it tasted a little light or young (or a spare bottle of wine in the back of a cabinet), this is where Oak Bottle can come into play. Take that wine or whiskey and add it to an Oak Bottle and see how the spirit or wine changes. Maybe even do both, back to back to add a little wine influence to a bourbon, or vice versa. Each Oak Bottle includes an aging chart for reference to get you started, or you can download their new mobile app. The Oak Bottle app (currently available on Apple’s App Store) allows you to record tasting notes of your favorite alcoholic beverages and allows you to add a barrel finish to each. The app allows you to document the color/appearance of the spirit and thorough tasting notes. The tasting notes above were documented in the app each time a sample was pulled from the Oak Bottle. The app is a great resource for documenting your whiskey journey and looking back on whiskies you enjoyed.
We look forward to many more experiments in this Oak Bottle. The brand claims that the bottle will still release oak influence after up to 60 usages. We are thinking the next experiment might be to re-age some Mellow Corn from Heaven Hill. Leave a comment on this post, or drop us a line on social media and give us some ideas for what you’d want to see in the Oak Bottle.
More details can be found at www.OakBottle.com and in the FAQ Section of their website.
Thank you to Oak Bottle for generously including us in their product and app testing.
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