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Strengths of Rum Barrel Aging in the Solera System
i have 4 barrels (3 x 6L and 1 x 15L) in a small rum solera system.as usual, i am taking enough for 3 x bottles off the first barrel (barrel 1) and topping everything along the way, finishing by topping up my large barrel with rum i have pre-oaked at 65%abv.i live in a hot dry region, the barrels are kept in in room where the temp fluctuates quite a lot and we have just finished our hot seasons.the original barrel strength was 65% but as usual the ABV has rose due to the angels share, which fortunately only seems to remove water content, which is predictable.so the barrels range in strength at the moment………4/24………………….6/22…….12/22….8/23 (ABV over the years)barrel 1 72% (6L)……………..70%……..68%……75%barrel 2 77% (6L)……………..69%……..62%(?)…67%barrel 3 74% (6L)……………..66%……..67%……68%barrel 4 79% (15L)…………….67%…….68%…….69%the question is……. when i refill barrel No1 from barrel No2, do i dilute the 77% from barrel 2 down to 65% before adding it to barrel 1?and do i dilute the other as i refill the previous barrel in line.maybe just dilute what i transfer to 65% to keep the ABV down a bit.or just leave it?i don’t think the stock will increase in ABV as much over the colder months, but it will keep losing water in this region.the amount of 65% pre-oaked rum i will add to barrel No4 will probably reduce the ABV to about 74%, but i’m not sure about adding 79% from barrel No4 to barrel No 3it’s a nice ‘problem’, the rum is luvly
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6 Replies
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My thoughts Howie is the initial fill at 65 seemed to work for you and at some stage you are going to have to dilute with water.Personally I’d get the last two barrels back to 65 and give the additional water as much time as possible.My rum system is just on 12 months old and I’ve got a 20 a 10 a 5 and a 2 litre and I have been circulating between the barrels for the last 12 months so all the rum mixes through all the barrels.So I really didn’t get a chance to notice any change in ABV as they would only spend a month before I moved the product through.I have only just started to work the solera system now taking my first bottles out and adding only fresh to the 20 and moving everything down the line.I definately keep an eye on the ABV from now on for sureThanks for the post ” you can pick your nose and you can pick your friends; but you can’t always wipe your friends off on your saddle” sage advice from Kinky Friedman
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Oh what a terrible situation you’ve got there howie.And I’ve got the solution. If you simply ship it all over to cold, damp Wales for oh, let’s say 12 months, it should then equalise nicely and be at the perfect ABV when I ship it back.It may have reduced in volume a little as I’ll have to take regular QC samples and have them comprehensively tested, but that’s to be expected of course. In all seriousness, your climate seems pretty much the ideal for ageing Rum. Water is cheap and easy to come by so I’d have no problem with the angels having as much as they wanted. I too would be looking to add water to keep it down below 70 ABV, probably on a regular basis.Make Booze, not War!
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Hot and humid here for much of the year , my barrels also seem to gain in ABV, a 25 L I drained some from for bottling not long ago was up around 68% after starting its aging journey at 62-3.I don’t get to fussy about it, just shift from one barrel to the next as required, once it reaches the end of the line It gets cut to drinking strength before bottling.The one thing I do, do ,after cutting, and before bottling is to let it sit for a month or two in a large demi to mellow and adjust to its new ABV.Freshly cut spirit and spirt done weeks or months before can be very different ……the later is smoother and has better flavor inmo.
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I think there is too much obsession in keeping ABV to around 60ish for barrel aging .This might be a thing for Whisky . And Whisky is usually done in cool places … Scotland , Tasmania, New Zealand .Rum tends to be barrelled at closer to 80% abv .Other wise you might wonder how the Old Bundy was bottled at 78%….. and Rums usually done in hotter more humid lands . Even Beenleigh and Inner circle had Rums circa 75-78%abv .I’ve been putting mine in the barrel at 75-78% for several years now with no issues and I think it is Rumming up very nicely . Can’t help with Solera first hand , but my advice would be to not overthink it and just move the stuff from barrel to barrel and enjoy the ride .My recommended goto .wiki/index.ph … ion_Theory
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Agree 100% Yummy Sitting here looking at a bottle that I have from back in the late 70’s to early 80’s , the lable states 75.9 % ABV.This is one of the original old school bottles…..its been re- released in recent years but at a reduced ABV.I’ve had a couple of sips over the years but mainly keep it for special guests who think they like high abv Rum.Did I ever give you a sample?
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Yes you did Salty . And Thankyou for sharing what I believe was a bottle of Rum worth close to 1K$ on the collectors market .You know I like Bundy and I was keen as mustard to have sample of that nectar . Was it delicious ? No , to be honest it was fucking horrible . I don’t mean that disrespectfully , but it was beyond not nice , and I don’t think that had anything to do with the bottling ABV . I have had Inner circle and Beenliegh of similar strengths , diluted down if coarse , and they tasted absolutely wonderful.Hmmm,just a thought , maybe there was something Bundy was doing back then circa late 70’s-80’s .When you think about it , every Bundy hater would have been drinking the stuff back then .Maybe they have upped their game since them .Sorry Howie about off topic .My recommended goto .wiki/index.ph … ion_Theory
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