For barrel staves Project Phoenix utilized some specially selected oak that had been air-dried for 24 months.

The fire was unusually clean, with not too much smoke, and the smoke was unusually subtle, with delicate floral notes, almost a “gin” botanical perspective.

Early toast notes were popcorn-like, with some red wine aromatics. The typical Kelvin long toast opens up the wood to absorb the fire and smoke aromatics. The charring process (to a Medium-Char level) brought up the typical heady, sweet baked bread aromas.

The barrel is finished to a wine-cask size of 60 gallons and is finished with a used Kentucky Bourbon barrel-head.

What now?

We wait. We wait for the barrel to do it’s own labor. For us.

For those who like a little more depth in terms of the history and art of coopering – here’s some additional detail regarding the history and art of coopering.