Barrel-Aging with Santa Fe Spirits

As one of the more successful and longer-established craft distilleries in North America, Santa Fe Spirits has won numerous awards and ardent fans for terroir-focused products such as its Colkegan line of mesquite-smoked whiskeys. Since its founding in 2010, the distillery also has accumulated a sizeable barrel stock and considerable expertise in getting distinctive character from its barrels and blends.

In this video course, Santa Fe master distiller Stephen Julander zooms in on barrel-aging to cover a range of topics, including:

• the social importance of the wooden barrel
• the anatomy of a barrel, and different types
• crafting spirits meant for successful barrel-aging
• planning for evolution of character and loss to the angel’s share
• knowing the rules and regulations of whiskey and aging
• barrel maintenance and tips on re-use
• how different barrels impact color and character
• the impact of seasonality, climate, time, and location
• tightening barrels to ensure a seal
• careful stacking and minimal movement
• tasting the stock, blending, and bottling
• Colkegan’s own mesquite-smoked character, and how that affects aging and blending

And much more.