Whiskey or rum or whatever might help. Are the barrels charred? I watched a really long video on a whiskey distillery and they went into the coopering pretty in depth. I don’t remember what all they did but I think the char played a role beyond just flavor. I think it helps filter and speeds up Maillard reaction but also keeps the barrel watertight.
Yes, medium/mediumplus char. Not much info out there on patchouli barrel aging specifically, so it's just a bit of a guess which would yield better results 😀 Could end up being a gimmick all together. Closest analog is camel kuppi aging, same semi-permeable oxidation/evaporation, just leather notes added vs oak notes. And of course, whiskey is done in a 50gal for best vol:surface area ratio, but that kinda goes out the door for patch. (this means if i toss in a rum/whiskey, it'll age rapidly.. but not get depth of a proper ratio barrel.. generally seen as kinda janky way to do it that young distilleries sometimes attempt to bring things to market quicker). But i can rationalize 750ml of patch experiment, but not 50gallons 😉. I hadn't considered rum, that might be interesting, thanks for the idea!
perhaps vintage oak barrel aged patchouli is the next material to break through to oud covetability! seems like a good idea if you've got the resources and good patchouli is not too expensive in bulk. I remember like 20 (30?) years ago thinking it was so weird that there were ZERO small batch artisanal sandalwood oils with grandiose (sometimes well deserved!) stories behind them and prices to match. I'm going to say skillfully aged patchouli is next up for 20+ dollars per gram, which is why I will never sell my aged stash in any nonemergency circumstance because it's replacement value will quickly become beyond my means.
Haha, well it'll never be oud level, nor do i have any desire to be a vendor. However, they don't make barrels any smaller, and as you say, yes patch in bulk can be found very reasonably (wouldnt invest in artisan tier for an experiment at 750ml, but also not bottom barrel). Seems interesting enough of a project for medium/low investment. Nonzero chance i find the barrel in the basement in a few years and wonder 'oh man, i totally forgot about this, what was i thinking' 😀. Who knows, could smell amazing, it'll at least accelerate the oxidation/aging in a controlled manner, and should add some interesting facets. break it out once a year and smell it/take aliquots, give me something to do, keep me off the streets
Right, that's the goal. Can't afford 750ml of cola patch or whatever (doubt theres 750ml in existance anyway at this point) as example, but I am certainly going through my collection to see if any stand out that i think may hold up long term and prob buy a few more samples before committing. problem is of course, im not really sure which aspects to look for that specifically get better with age, top notes drop off, depth kinda grows/changes.
Cool you actually bought barrels. I use glass bottles with oak chips (French, plain). I know its a trade-off compared to barrels but at the time i could not find much confirmation that a barrel wouldn't start leaking and no info on how to prep a barrel before putting eo in..
Don't see why it would be diff than for alcohol. Fill with water, staves swell and leaking stops, also clears out any loose char. Drain water, fill with material. The bands are sized so the staves can swell tight and not leak.
One of my concerns was that eo doesnt contain water to keep the staves swollen(?) and i could not find anything conclusive about it.
Thats good thinking, I hadn't considered that. Then maybe the move is not to pre-swell and only wax seal the seams to prevent leaks (pre-swell then wax will fail as the water evaps and gaps return to normal)
Or
Possibly, but the water in the wood evaps out over years, hence the angel's share. Don't believe it's only through the seams, think it works its way through the whole wood til it hits the outside, but don't quote me on that. But I do want some level of evap/o2 permeation, even if miniscule. But maybe oils don't permeate no matter what I do. Def something I need to understand better, I'm sure there's a path forward.
Hm
Smart! It's an option to keep in my back pocket. Issue would be it's less fire and forget. But I can set a recurring calendar event. Would need to see how often it needs it. Every 6 months? Sure. Every 1 month? Now it's a pet
You have to pet it anyway. The wood to liquid ratio being rather high (understatement intended) you need to check its scent if you dont want to end up with oak 'n rum oil.
Now you're talking! 😁
Haha. Another option possibly, abandoning all novelty. If my goal is char + oak + woods micro oxygenation. A turned oak tube and stainless/gasketed end caps would not leak, still aerate, still char, but no seams to leak really, and can be done even in trivially small sizes. Very silly and impractical, but an option.
You're right. I'm planning on monthly aliquots and adding marbles to reduce headspace, so it's getting babysat regardless.. I think given the numbers given by the apothecary site above (5l barrel, 20 year age) that a 750ml is more on order of 5 years corrected s/v, not 6-12 mo. No conventional alcohol worry of too much tannins, so it should extend/improve longer. But, figuring out if that's true is still a pet monitoring
Apparently oak bottles exist too
Youre right, 4y11mo calculator says.
