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DIY barrel aging

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Dec 27, 2013
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I'm a DIY type of guy. I built my house, I built my boat, I brew my beer, I built my humidor, I roll my cigars. So I decided to explore the idea of barrel aging, which is all the rage right now. Rather than barrel age the leaf I decided to barrel age the whole cigar. Since I don't have a barrel I decided to age some cigars in oak sawdust to simulate a barrel. Of course I need to simulate a used barrel so I decided to soak the sawdust in booze. I wanted something with lots of flavor but I didn't want to waste any of my expensive scotch or bourbon on this experiment so I went with Port because it has a lot of flavor and would be more likely to transfer those flavors.

First I cut a bunch of red oak to create a jar full of sawdust. Then I pored in some Port, shook it up, and let it sit in a closed jar for a couple of weeks.
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Then I put the sawdust into a tupperware and let it dry out until the RH in the tupperware was around 69%. I used a tissue to keep the sawdust out of the hygrometer.
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Then I choose some inexpensive cigars that were pleasant but mild so any impact from my experiment would be noticeable. I decided on some Alex Bradley Occidental Reserve.
IMG_0336.JPG I buried them in the sawdust, put the lid on and let them sit for 2 months.
When I tried one I smoked it with a non-barrel aged one at the same time. The result was that there was a noticeable difference. It wasn't dramatic but the faux barrel aged was better. It had a fuller flavor profile with just a hint of oak. The port didn't seem to impact it much.
I may do it again with some bourbon and let them sit for maybe 4 months. Anyway, it was fun.
 
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Think about charring a few small whole pieces of oak and include that in your mix. Bourbon barrels and some wine varieties used charred oak barrels to age the product. Not like charcoal but torched to blacken the wood a bit.
 
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Try a garden center at the end of a growing season. They always have a whiskey barrel planter or 3 that fall apart. Can get them for a song, and they would already be disassembled. Build a box out of the staves to age cigars in, or just cut to add to the tupper. Whatever extra you have makes phenomenal wood for the smoker...
 
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