American Oak Barrel (2 liter) with Chalkboard Front - Charred Mini Keg for Aging Cocktails, Bourbon, Scotch, Whiskey, Gin, Hot Sauce - Home Bar Decor by Thousand Oaks Barrel Co.

I was honestly a little worried about ordering this items after reading reviews but thought I would give it a try. I even purchased from another seller some barrel wax to seal it if it wouldn’t seal correctly. When I received the barrel I first read the directions. And if you know a engineer we never do that. First thing I noticed was what they tell you to do here on there amazon page and what people were complaining about and are doing don’t match the directions the barrel comes with. Does the barrel leak when you fill it with water the first time, absolutely. The barrel needs to seal its self and the barrel needs to soak up the water into the barrel walls which is a lot better then your booze. The first 24 hours it leaked around a teaspoon and I filled it back up with just over 1 1/2 oz of water. At 48 hours it was still leaking a little but not as much around 1/4 teaspoon spot under the barrel. Refilled the barrel with water adding just over 1.5 oz. Now on 72 hour mark, it’s still leaks or was and it seemed sealed the bottom is mostly dry. Had a water spot the size of a pea under it. Added 1/2oz of water and closed it back up. Day 4 and 5 no leaks, just added a little water on day 4 to make sure it was 100% full. Day 6, I empty the barrel of water out and let drain for an hour and then filled it with my trial run booze. It’s now been a week with no leaks, I can already can tell the liquor inside is already changing and am looking forward to checking it each week. So this reviews is for Engineers and those that don’t follow directions … LOL The directions say to fill with water and let seat for 4-5 days to fully seal your barrel NOT 4-6 hours or over night or 24 hours. Also the barrel soaked up almost 4 oz of water over 4 days. Be sure to keep it filled so your booze isn’t what’s being soaked up. Good Luck and Cheers!

I love this guy. I bought the 2 liter one and followed the instructions for prepping it with water. Let it sit for about a week. The first couple of days a had a minimal amount of leakage (enough to dampen a paper towel, but not soak it), but after that nothing. I first tried some Bullit Rye (1.75L). The size of the barrel is deceptive, as I thought "no way is this all going to fit", but it did. After about 10 days, the taste was noticeably oakier. Not sure how much more flavor it would add if aged longer, as it only made it to about day 14. Trying some Old Crow (about $20 around here for 1.75L), so curious to see what this can do for some cheaper whiskey. Will update when I've tried it.

It has been filled with water for five days and appears to water tight now. It is so water tight in fact that the spout will not drain any liquid, simple fix though. The barrel is attractive and seems to have already been coated with a wax product. I have not put any alcohol type product into it. Update: it is June and I now have 1 liter of a home distilled whiskey in the barrel. I'm glad I waited. I kept the barrel filled with filtered water the entire time; roughly 3 months. There was a little bit of leakage after the initial 5 days, so I didn't get into a hurry to fill it with spirits. I rotated the barrel as it sat. I kept it on a plate to catch moisture. There was some staining of the wood and rusting of the metal bands, but don't let that be a deterrent. The spigot flows well if the cork is removed. There is a nice vanilla odor coming from the barrel with the spirit in it and it is taking on a nice brown color.

I think it does a great job with imparting some amazing flavor to some blanco i have. It easily holds over 5 liters. However, the spigot, after 2 weeks no longer works and leaks a bit. It's going to be a bit difficult to remove all the liquid and reuse the barrel. does anyone else have this issue?

Just what I wanted

I bought a barrel off of Amazon that was much cheaper. I thought it'd be simple. Well, it came with a plastic liner, so clearly no way of aging the whiskey. So that one got returned and I bought this for my husband. We had to buy the wax to seal the barrel as it had leaks when soaking the water inside (very common). Read some youtube instructions to get that information. I can't speak to flavor because we are still waiting, but I'm sure it'll be what we made of it!

OK, that title is there for a reason. We were hoping to be able to use this item in our Pirate themed trunk-o-treat at church and put non-alcoholic pirates grog into it for the kiddos to try. Sadly, this is not a great use for this item. We are not brewers nor do we age alcohol for any reason. So, if you are I am sure that this would be a great item. One thing I was was disclosed is that if you have a latex allergy (like me) you will need to be aware that the cork in the top has a latex stopper on the end...So, if you are going to use it as intended or want to serve someone that you know has a latex allergy then this is not for you. It seemed to be made well...lots of flash and loose wood on the inside of the barrel (though the hole to see into is is really small).

Looks great and exactly as described. I can not speak to how wrll it ages wiskey yet because I won't know until a mi th or 2 from now due to aging time