Premium Charred American Oak Aging Barrel - No Engraving (1 Liter)

I love these barrels and highly recommend them! I am on my 3rd one. It came in today and is filled, per instructions, with warm water. There are no leaks as of yet. I have never had a barrel leak. I believe that is because I start the curing process as soon as it comes in. I have friends who received these for Christmas and waited until they "got around to it" to start the curing process. It is very dry here in the Northeast in the winter and I believe that is where they had their problems with leakage. Your mileage may vary. I get the 2 liter barrel and typically age Manhattans. My process is as follows: 1. Check for leaks with water (usually 2 days) 2. Drop in 700 ml of 135 proof Grenadine Rum for about 4-6 days to add flavor. 3. Make Manhattans. I make them 2 1/2 - 1 bourbon to vermouth. In a 2 liter barrel, that equals approx. 48 oz of bourbon to 19 oz of sweet vermouth. 5 tsp of orange bitters and into the barrel. Age to taste. I usually make about 6 batches before turning to other uses. One that has been a "hit" everywhere has been Slaine Irish whiskey (better than Jameson imho) aged after Manhattans. After that I have dropped Scotch (I had 2 bottles of fairly inexpensive Scotch which were rendered eminently drinkable) and tequila into the barrel. Also... top notch service!! My very first barrel developed a problem with the spigot somewhere around my 6th batch. I made a phone call and they sent me a new spigot, free of charge, along with a cool little flask. (probably 2 oz). The woman was very friendly on the phone and just wanted to know what I needed. No questions about how long I had the barrel, what I used it for, did I drop it, or any of those other "oh, sorry, we can't help you" questions.

I've ordered several of these barrels in the past from other suppliers. This barrel had the best craftmanship of any I have purchased. It is outstanding. All of my future barrel purchases will come from this company.

We purchased barrels twice from Red Head through Amazon. Neither barrel cured properly and continued to leak for weeks. I went through four containers of barrel wax (2 for each barrel, and which I had to BUY from Red Head) to no avail. The first barrel made such a mess, we finally gave up on it entirely and unfortunately didn't bother to complain or request a refund. Foolishly, we decided to give the product another chance and bought another. I followed all the instructions on curing and waxing to the letter, but the second barrel still leaked. In fact the second barrel was a bigger problem than the first, as it had a leaking crack through the length of the spigot, which was a whole other issue and had nothing to do with curing the barrel.After the bad experience with the second barrel, I called Red Head directly. I talked to Tina there, who clearly had little interest in the problem. Tina said to email her about the issue and attach pictures of the current barrel, which I promptly did. During our discussion, Tina said I didn't let it cure enough, and that it might a take "several weeks" to cure properly. I had let it cure about 7 days, and at that point, it didn't appear any water was leaking. Once I filled it with $300+ of bourbon and vermouth, the leaking restarted. Red Head's own website says about curing: "This may take as little as one minute or as long as a week." Clearly there's a disconnect between what the site says and what Tina claims. If she was in fact correct, why don't their instructions or their website provide accurate information? And if it does take a month or two to cure, why can't they tell people that in their product description - who buys a barrel and doesn't plan to use it for months?Secondly, considering both of our barrels leaked, why isn't barrel wax provided as a matter of course with each order, and why should we have to pay for it, if it's apparently a given you'll need it? Why should a customer have to request it separately and wait even longer to use the barrel (assuming the wax even ends up being effective)?Tina's other brilliant insight into why the leaking restarted was some garbled explanation about the difference in viscosity of water and the liquor. I have zero confidence in her knowledge of fluid dynamics, and if by chance I'm wrong about that, she should learn to explain the issue properly to a customer. And just like the curing time and the wax issues, if this really is a legitimate explanation of new or continued leaking, why the hell are the instructions and website absolutely silent on the possibility that this can be an issue?As for the leaks themselves, they occurred along the barrel rings and also along the stave seams. As already mentioned, the spigot had a crack in it and did not close properly. These were not fixable conditions and I requested a full refund or a replacement barrel from Red Head. Tina said, she'd have someone review my complaint and the pictures I sent, but no one ever replied. I followed up with another email, and again got no reply. During out last conversation, Tina said I should just buy a pre-cured barrel if I was having these problems.Tina's offered solution that maybe I should just buy a pre-cured infused barrel is infuriating and insulting. I wasn't going to argue with her, but how about making my first purchases right before you try and sell me something else? Or maybe she thinks I'm not competent enough to follow the curing instructions, to which I would merely say: maybe I am, maybe I'm not, but it sure would help if any instructions in print or online from their company were complete and accurate to begin with.If you haven't barrel aged before, please understand barrel aging liquor like this is an expensive process. Yes, the barrels were $100 each, but as they're 5 liter barrels, the liquor it takes to fill them can run an additional $300-$400. Having the barrel fail, as these did, jeopardizes a minimum $500 total investment.Ultimately, I contacted Amazon, and obtained a full refund for the second barrel. It is great to know Amazon stands behind their customers even when an individual seller ignores complaints.

I'd give it more stars, but I've only had it 24 hours. I read some reviews before I bough it, but I had zero issues with leaking. When it arrived the hoops around the top, closest the spigot were loose, and I tightenend them on with a hammer and the flat end of a chisel. Worked perfectly. Its been curing since then, and again, no leaking at all. I've only had to top it off once, as well. They reccommend curing 5-7 days, but in a smaller barrel, you can get by with 3-5 days, as long as it's stopped leaking for 48 hours and has had time to drink in the water .Also, it speeds up the aging process, as the surface to liquid ratio is smaller. I will update this in a few months at least, after I've aged it more.

I was interested in taking my mixology in a new direction. Barrel aging seemed like a logical direction. The barrel I ordered arrived in a timely manner with good use instructions included. The manufacturers are very customer oriented. I followed the instructions on "curing" the barrel with water to plug any loose joints/cracks. This process took longer than expected -- well over a week -- with frequent turning of the barrel to try and reach those places that needed to be plugged. Ironically my biggest leak was from the spigot, which refused to close tightly at first. Ultimately I succeeded. For my first "experiment," I wanted to discern if there was any difference in taste between my normal, mid-priced bourbon and the same bourbon after barrel aging. I felt this approach eliminated variables in the mixing of cocktails. I aged the bourbon for a month to ensure maximum results. Frankly, I tasted no difference between the bottled bourbon and the barrel aged variety, even though I wanted it to be true very badly. My wife corroborated my experience.I'm now experimenting with my first cocktail mixture, a Manhattan. One more week until the tasting. That said, my strong suspicion is that those who strongly believe there's a difference between the barrel taste and the bottled taste will experience it when they taste the barrel aged version. Perception leads reality. No issue for me. If you believe it tastes better, enjoy! However, my taste buds tell me that the difference my be more in your mind than on your tongue. I will be interested to see if my suspicion proves out with my barreled Manhattan.