Mini 100% American Oak Whiskey Barrel, Original Fast Oak Barrel Aged Taste (12 hrs or less), 355 ml

The Oak Bottle pleased me both with its handsome charm and functionality. It looks pleasing enough to be put on display, and will certainly attract some attention, if not questions from admirers. It not only adds an entire new dimension of quality to the spirits you put inside (also beer or wine, according to the company), but also gives one a sense of personal engagement in the crafting of one's own custom creations. It is simply a must-have for liquor connoisseurs and enthusiasts. My Oak Bottle unexpectedly arrived within just a couple days, even with the standard shipping option. Even upon extracting it, I was impressed with its weight and solid construction. From the pictures, I expected the metal bands to be more polished and chrome-like, although the machined metal bands do still have a nice shine to them; they have a slightly more rugged look: less elegant showpiece than it is rugged maritime or old distillery charm (and charming it is). The metal rings of mine were a tiny bit dinged and marred (obviously before assembly, since my oak wood is unmarked), but this doesn't detract from the look at all (and will likely go unnoticed by the average viewer). However, let's be honest - the real demand for this treasure isn't how it looks on the outside, but what it does on the inside. Following the provided instructions, I let my Oak Bottle soak for hours to let the wood settle and to identify leaks, and my Oak Bottle proved watertight. (I did note that the cork stopper leaked if completely inverted. I attempted to seal the grooves inside the mouth of the bottle to no avail. Mine does not drip at all if lying sideways, however, so this is truly not an issue, since I don't intend to season my spirits upside-down. Just a warning for travelers and zero-gravity enthusiasts.) Heed the company's advice and periodically test your spirit as it infuses. My first trial run with rye was a great success, perhaps a little too successful. At 5 hours, a mild but noticeable change of character had occurred. At 9 hours, the change was distinct - a slightly darker colour, considerably mellowed, and definitely oaken. At 12 hours, the rye was (to all tasters' agreement) perfectly infused - the oak was distinct and warm, but not overwhelming, was mellower still and tasted less spicy and dry; the colour was discernibly richer and darker. At 15 hours, we decided the infusion was a bit too long - the rye was so mellow and smooth it lacked its original character. Fortunately, we have more bottles and can simply blend it back to perfection. It can only be restated, then, that the Oak Bottle works fast and works well. The Oak Bottle currently only offers custom engraving on the 375ml versions, but I await a 750ml offering with great anticipation. One of these bottles simply isn't enough.

After reading some reviews I was a little hesitant to purchase the product because people were complaining that their bottles were cracking during the swelling process. I am happy to say my bottle did not crack during the process. I did have very small leaks on the bottom of the bottle but the oak bottle wax stopped the leaks instantly. It is currently drying out so that I can put my first bottle of whiskey to age. I'll update the review after I have had my first sip of whiskey after it has been aged. Update 9/26/2016 I put a bottle of Johnnie Walker double black in the oak bottle on Thursday night and on Saturday night I couldn't believe the difference. I had a new bottle of double black to do a side by side comparison and was amazed at how it improved the taste. I would definitely recommend you buying this. I was hesitant to buy because of some of the reviews that included the bottle cracking during the swelling process but I only had small leaks. I would hope that if yours cracks you can get your money back.

I purchased this thinking that a simple oak bottle couldn't replicate the chemistry of the aging process for bourbons that I like to drink, but I was pleasantly surprised. My package arrived before the scheduled delivery date with no visible defects and no issues after following the sealing instructions. My first experiment was to use a cheap bottle of Wild Turkey 81 proof ($15) to see what results I could get. Although I'm not the most experienced bourbon drinker, I've had enough to know what I like. I've tried and bought various regular, rye, wheat bourbons both cheap and expensive. Anyway, I followed the instructions and decided to age for 12 hours, then up to 2 days while pouring samples at each stage in order to compare to the original bottle. The instructions say you can age bourbon up to 5 days though. The first thing I noticed is how the color changed between pours. Even after 12 hours, the color had changed. After 2 days, the color was much darker so there was obviously something happening inside the oak bottle. I then asked my wife to give me a blind taste test to be sure. At the end, I picked the 2-day aged sample first, the 12-hour aged sample second, and the original bottle last. There was a noticeable difference in smoothness and finish between the original and the 2-day aged. The original bottle had a massive bite at the end that was basically unnoticeable with the 2-day. I really think it turned a $15 bottle into something that I would pay up to $30-$40 for. It seems the aging process is obviously changing the characteristics of the bourbon for the better. My next test is to get more experienced bourbon drinkers I know to do a blind test to eliminate any post purchase bias on my part and get other objective opinions. Only reason for 4 instead of 5 stars is because I want to experiment with other bourbons and whiskeys to see if I can replicate my first test. Wish me luck and I may have to update to 5 stars if results are as good next time. Still, I think this bottle is worth buying regardless.

I was skeptical when I ordered this product. Originally I bought the Oak Bottle to make Manhattans and Old Fashions. It did an incredible job with the Manhattans… in fact it did too good of a job. The Manhattans were so smooth, I wanted to drink an entire glassful… I had to remind myself that I was in fact drinking bourbon with a touch of vermouth and bitters hahaha. After the “Manhattan Project” I began experimenting with something more cost effective. I Oak Bottled 750ml of Very Old Bartons (which we can get in Ky for around $20 for a 1.75L bottle) The results were astounding!!! I had my wife try the VOB without knowing what bourbon it was. She assumed it was one of the $50+ bottles I had recently picked up. The vanilla and leather tones were strong, and it was incredibly smooth. Next we moved on to aging some Old Granddad BIB, since that is readily available locally and runs about $20 for a 1.75L… the results were again, amazing! Really smoothed out the OGD BIB. We are currently experimenting with some “White Dog” to see how that develops. Each time we aged the different spirits for approx 48 hours. I was hesitant when I first ordered based on some reviews that indicated a lack of communication by the manufacturer. I can say with complete confidence, they have been awesome to correspond with, and have been very attentive and prompt via e-mail with any questions I have had. We only have about 4-5 uses under our belt, hopefully we will get many, many more. But based on the current performance, the bottle has indeed already paid for itself, anything from here on out is a bonus and a money savings!!!

I used this product once before it started leaking. The seller acted as though it was my fault for not prepping the wood properly. Maybe the HUGE crack in the wood has something to do with the leaking. Seller promised to send a replacement but never did. Good product if it worked for than once.

Turn your VS or VSOP Brandies into XO's and EXTRAS with this ! I usually get basic VS Cognacs or Armagnacs at my local Total Wine store and I leave them in the Oak Bottle for around 3 and a half weeks or an entire month. What comes out is a dark spririt that is equivalent to a Hors D'age (Beyond Age) or 50 year aged spirit. Some crybabies and Debbie Downers will cry that some of the spirit evaporates after so much time. WELL DUH !! It's called the ANGELS SHARE. Thats how Barrel Aging works you retarded sissies !! I experience around 25% evaporation. I am totally fine with that. Would you rather have 100% of 750ml of a crappy VS Cognac or VS Armagnac ?? Or 75% of 750ml of some of the finest aged spirit that the big spirit houses will charge you $250 or even $600 and up for ?? I think the choice is clear. Thank you Oak Bottle from saving me from the oppressive tyranny of Diabolical Cognac and Armagnac houses. I am HAPPY to spend $25 and wait a month for an amazing Brandy that I would have paid HUNDREDS of DOLLARS for in the PAST !! I have had Great luck with KELT VSOP and CAMUS BORDERIES VSOP also with REVE BLEU VS and bargain basement VS Armagnacs. Buy this with confidence. Especially if you demand a smooth, fine aged spirit, and are allergic to drinking young, crappy VS brandies.

I use this to age clear distillate of corn. At first it worked super great, and pretty fast. I have aged about 9 bottles full at this point, and now it takes months and months for much color and flavor, and even then it's weak and pale, and lots of the peoduct gets absorbed. I do love the flavor, but saying this will age 50 bottles is embellishement at best. I would not be so hard on it, but for $100 this should last lots longer. So, something be be aware of: the longer you age, the more the bottle absorbs the contents. So on average if you put in 750ml, you can expect about 500ml back out, if that. I'm not sure this is worth it, since I can get very simular results by selecting choice oak, splitting, drying and char/toasting it and putting it in a Ball jar like a pickle, and it works as well. Probably won't spend another $100.

I have been aging whiskey in barrels for some time now and thought this would be perfect for experimenting with different aging on a smaller scale before doing it in barrels. Primarily how to get more flavor into my whiskey by aging other spirits like rum, port or sherry before aging the whiskey and I can say I am not disappointed. To begin with the bottle arrived in perfect condition with no cracks or anything which I was surprised about. I was anticipating that the wood would have dried out and would really need a good soaking before it would be able to hold liquid but I filled it with water and there were no leaks. It arrived with a tiny bit of barrel wax, be sure to keep this in the event you spring leaks later, or use it to seal any stubborn leaks that won't go away during the water soaking process. Having spent time with barrels I am used to this so I was pleasantly surprised that it held water on the first fill, I let it soak for 48 hours all the same but was happy to watch it resting on my counter with no water coming out. I just put in my first bottle of Spiced Rum and can't wait to switch it out with my favorite Rye in about 5 days, I doubt I am going to get a product like Angel's Envy Finished Rye, but it's going to be fun trying.

It does work well, adding some nice flavour to lower priced Scotch. I recommend soaking and rinsing it a few times before first use, as the interior has a bit of a smell that transfers to the Scotch. A few days of changing the water helped remove much of the odour.

Bought this sweet little ditty thinking my husband would finally love something I bought for him...it’s still in the box and I bought it at Christmas. But he tells people about it so I think that’s an 8/10 for purchases!

Was very please with this product, gave it as a gift, recipient was very happy! Does what it's supposed to, you can really taste the difference in just a few hours! Looking forward to buying another with a fruit flavor already infused!

Bottle cracked after a year or so. worked well previous to that