The Angel's Share

If you've never heard of the Angel's Share, it's a term used in wine and whiskey making.  The spirit is aged in oak barrels.  Over time, some percentage of the liquid is lost to evaporation.  This is the share taken by the guardian angels who watch over the barrels.

I'm starting this blog to document the progress of barrel-aging whiskey at home. I am an avid homebrewer of beer (have you seen my Benderator blog?), and a whiskey/whisky lover and collector.  I'm often asked when I'm going to make my own whiskey.

Home distilling is illegal here in the US, but aging already-distilled spirits is not.  I was given a Wasmund's Barrel Kit from the Copper Fox Distillery for Christmas. It includes 2, 750mL bottles of 124 proof Single Malt or Rye spirits (I have a soft spot for a good rye, and Santa got wind of it) and a two-liter charred American White Oak mini-barrel.

I'm terribly amused by one of the distillers' names, by the way.

I've currently got the barrel filled with water to swell the staves so it doesn't leak.  More tomorrow!