5 Liter Whiskey Oak Barrel for Aging – Golden Oak Barrel with Black Steel Hoops – Aging and Recipes Digital Guide included

This review has been updated since hearing back from the company, and I highly recommend the product and the company as well.// From original review:It's really quite cute and seems well made, but has a few issues that keep it from being perfect. This is relatively minor,but the black rings are coated with some super-thin coating that keeps them from corroding. Unfortunately, even light scraping from a fingernail takes off this coating in patches, leaving a few spots corroded and discolored (after 2 weeks - but only because of the second issue.)The bigger issue is that this barrel developed a few cracks and leaks after only two weeks. At first, after following the instructions to seal the wood with warm water, it held a seal fine. Over the next week, a very thin crack in the back expanded and now leaks terribly - in the morning, there was a puddle around the bottom and black streaks had developed along the sides (hopefully not from the char, but maybe from the black metal bands?)// End original review sectionI shortly heard back from a very polite and helpful company representative and was offered a fully functional copper banded barrel replacement, so not only was their service great, I also have the opportunity to compare the different models.The models are different in more ways than just the bands - the copper has four bands, while the black steel has six, and the barrels are shaped differently as well. The black banded is a little more stout, while the copper is a little longer and sleeker. The wood on the black barrel feels a little more raw, while the copper model is more polished with just a tinge of glossiness. The copper barrel had nearly no leakage before conditioning, and was flawless afterwards, so I'd give it the edge as far as build quality goes, but the black barrel has a bit more rustic charm - to each their own. Whatever model you prefer, I'd definitely recommend this product and seller.

I find that you have to rinse it out with lots of water and let water soak in for a few days, rinsing it out everyday to get the charred taste and smell out of it.You do not all want your liquor to taste like charred wood. I notice it when I put Jack Daniel's in it and then I tried some Crown.It made me really appreciate the natural taste of the whiskey straight out of the bottle.But I think after I get this charred wood smell and taste out with the help of water sitting in it for a while I will be able to let my liquor age without getting a strong char wood taste and smell. It really overpowered the spirit.My suggestion to Golden Oak Barrel is to not char the inside of the barrel so much because it's really about aging the liquor rather than giving the liquor a burnt char taste and smell. I even looked in the port hole with a flashlight to see the inside that was well burnt to a black color. Everything else was perfect about the barrel. Well build with no leaks after water soaks in.I gave it a five star because it really is a five star if it had less char which is very possible to accomplish in production. Please give me feed back so that I will buy more in the future.

The mini barrel company from which I usually buy doesn't offer a 3L version, so decided to explore other manufacturers. I settled on this one from Golden Oak because of the marketing claims and positive reviews. Supposedly, this one is guaranteed not to leak, have the spigot installed and be made-to-order.Well, I don't think these are really made to order - at least not if there is anything that remotely resembles quality control. I placed the order Thursday evening and it arrived this morning (Sunday) - and was in-tranist from Friday morning. So, this would mean they got the order, gave the order to the coper, had the cooper fabricate it, varnish it, let the varnish dry and sent it out all by the next morning? Anyway...Spigot - not attached. It was in a baggy in pieces - even though the shipping box was perfect.The barrel - nothing at all like what they advertise. Yes, it looked nice coming out of the box. But it leaks like a sieve - from several places between the staves! If you watch Golden Oak's video, their pitch-man will tell you that even a brand new barrel is never supposed to leak from the staves or there is something very wrong. Well, of all the barrels I've ever bought, this is the only one that has had such poor workmanship. And, they use a lot of varnish in that ledge where the bottom of the round end pieces touch the staves. Despite the so-called super-tight precision build standards they claim, it seems like they do this to fill gaps to prevent leaks.It's possible this was a fluke, but blowing into it gets you a nice breeze from several points - if they really are made-to-order, don't they even do a "blow test" check before they send them out?