Barrel Aging Cocktails with Hudson Whiskey Barrel Aged Cocktail Kit

Barrel aged cocktails are a deliciously ever-growing trend. A cocktail is made in batches and then aged for a period of time in a charred oak barrel.  The char and oak work magic on the cocktail enhancing flavors just as they would with a whiskey.

The bottle pictured to the left  was originally introduced to BourbonBlog.com at Tales of the Cocktail 2011 as an easy to use barrel aging kit which reproduces the effects char and barrel on a cocktail’s aging process.

Tuthilltown Spirits and Hudson Whiskey recently brought these these fancy little kits to market (and some bigger ones too).

“The Hudson Whiskey Barrel Aged Cocktail Kit is the perfect, yet unexpected addition to his home bar.” Gable Erenzo, Hudson Whiskey Brand Ambadassor tells BourbonBlog.com. “Once he’s used the kit and perfected his own barrel-aged cocktail recipe, he’ll be ready to graduate to one of our Custom Made 1 Liter Barrels for the ultimate do-it-yourself spirits experience.”

How it works

• – The stave will provide a similar environment to a barrel, though obviously not exactly the same. The idea is that the less surface area you leave for the liquid to interact with anything but the wood, the better.

– Think of the bottle & stave kit as an “intensified” environment for the cocktail, the idea being that the aging process should be a bit more accelerated than the barrel (we’re only talking 375 ml here)

– This is also a unique kit because you’re experimenting with both bottle-aged and barrel-aged cocktails, the two most prominent and effective ways of achieving desirable results. 

– Starting small and experimenting with this kit is a great way to get familiar with the barrel-aging process before you commit to aging in a full sized Hudson Whiskey Barrel (which start at $60 and are available in varying sizes from 1L-9G here)

The “Home Barrel Aging Kit” is available for $12.50 from  Hudson on this link .

Gable Erenzo  and Jeffrey Morgenthaler (Clyde Common – Portland, OR) have developed some signature barrel-aged cocktails to mature in actual, used Hudson Whiskey barrels. They tell us about these in the video above featured here on BourbonBlog.com . These recipes can (and should) be adjusted based on the size of the vessel they are set to age in.

The recipes below are based on the capacity of a 2.5 gallon barrel:

Barrel-Aged Hudson White Manhattan

Barrel-Aged Negroni
(4) 750ml bottles + 5 ounces Hendrick’s Gin
(4) 750ml bottles + 5 ounces sweet vermouth
(4) 750ml bottles + 5 ounces Campari or Aperol

Gable Erenzo, Brand Ambassador for Hudson WHiskey