Roll out the barrel

From Miami’s hottest nightclub bartenders to craft mixologists in top restaurants, barrel aging spirits and cocktails is booming. Gable Erenzo, the whiskey man from Tuthilltown Distillery, is now providing tools of the trade for the DIY crowd. He’s got barrels for sale (unaged 1, 3 and 5 liter sizes and aged barrels in 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 14 gallon sizes) as well as a complete barrel aging kit. 

Erenzo’s wife Cathy, who oversees marketing, has recently seen the barrels and kits fly off the shelves. “We had so much surplus taking up space in the distillery,” she recalls. “Once in a while we’d sell a barrel to a local brewery that was aging ale, and to people experimenting with things. But then the barrel-aged cocktail craze took off and we can’t keep them in stock anymore.”

This craze spawned a self-contained aging kit that includes a 1-liter unaged barrel engraved with the Tuthilltown logo, two bottles of Hudson New York corn whiskey and two Tuthilltown glasses. Recipes for a Manhattan and Negroni are included in every kit.

“If you’re making a barrel-aged cocktail with the kit, check it every week and take it out whenever you feel the flavor is right,” Erenzo recommends.  “Bourbon takes a little longer. Barrel-aging in the 3-gallon barrels takes about five months.”