Stop Taking Heads Cuts

grim

Well, dipped into the two test barrels this week. These were funkier Jamaican style molasses based rums.

First test barrel - normal batch (1 week Ferm), proportional share of heads added back into the barrel.

Second test barrel - this was a longer fermentation (3 weeks Ferm), 5 barrels worth of rum in this batch, the entire heads cut from this volume of rum was added back to 1 of the 5 barrels. I underfilled to leave room to add back the heads cut. The net was far higher proof than the other barrels. I did this on a whim when I was setting up to barrel. Thought first test batch barrel was interesting, why don't I amp it up far beyond that. Not only not taking a heads cut, but adding back and essentially completely concentrating the heads volume unnaturally by 5x. Now, our heads cuts on this style are never nasty, in fact I love opening the feints tank for a smell.

Both barrels are fantastic, and exhibit characteristics that I've been missing from our rums. Our white is normally a 1.5x distillation style, very flavorful, but very clean on the nose. Dark rum, even with heavy dunder and bacterial fermentation, close, but still far away.

Only about 6 months in a 30g ex-bourbon at this point, so still very young, but f*ck me the 5x concentrated heads is fantastic. Based on what I'm tasting right now, this will undoubtedly be the best barrel of Jamaican style dark rum we've ever made.

Take it however you want.

punkin

In agreement with heads in rum. I used to call my white rum H&T Rum. Which was heads and tails.

The heads that i left/added back were all the late heads, the less acetone, but sweet late heads. the tails i added back only if i found that middle tails portion that was in the middle/late tails that was good. Not always there, or not always clean. So not always added.

The late heads make it a more rounded, complex flavour that fills the mouth.

I thought it was just something that appealed to me.

Smaug

Yeah, more and more this makes sense.

Some out there still make cuts on a stripping run. Its good rum but its more like a rum for the masses.

DonMateo

I only take about maye 5% in my stripping run for a whiskey. I will take a litre or more, in a 300l stripping run where I will get about 40l of low wines. About the same with a spirit run. As well I always go deep into the tails. My final spirit on the spirit run is about 51 to 52%. There is so much more flavor in spirits that you dont get when you take more narrow cuts. A couple of years ago I had a woman over to my house to taste my whiskeys. She used to be the head of quality control for Seagrams and was a professional taster and had 20 people also tasters working under her. When she tried most of my whiskys as teh time he comment was you always go into the tails. I said yes and she said thats great as there are some fantastic flavors in the tails that almost all distillers dont get into.

Smaug

@DonMateo said: I only take about maye 5% in my stripping run for a whiskey. I will take a litre or more, in a 300l stripping run where I will get about 40l of low wines. About the same with a spirit run. As well I always go deep into the tails. My final spirit on the spirit run is about 51 to 52%. There is so much more flavor in spirits that you dont get when you take more narrow cuts. A couple of years ago I had a woman over to my house to taste my whiskeys. She used to be the head of quality control for Seagrams and was a professional taster and had 20 people also tasters working under her. When she tried most of my whiskys as teh time he comment was you always go into the tails. I said yes and she said thats great as there are some fantastic flavors in the tails that almost all distillers dont get into.

My experience with rums (for my personal taste) is that whiskey is far more forgiving than rum in the tails department. It is the heads that contribute to the more familiar aromatic rum qualities that I think of when I think of rum. Banana, pineapple, coco nibs, stone fruit etc.

grim

Agree with that, for 100% blackstrap rums, it’s easy to get into some really acrid tails fractions.

That said, in both whiskey and rums, the late late late tails (aka - backins) - can be really interesting.

I’d love to proof down some of these test barrels with the late watery tails fractions to really amp up flavor.

jbierling

Barrel aging is really a different type of distillation combined with interactions with wood. The nasty, most volatile stuff is the first portion lost to angel share. Its really not much of a surprise that barrel aging heads can be useful ;). I haven't thrown much out for a very long time.

DonMateo

Yes. I cut out the fores and thats it. I back off the power at 50% and then crank it after 45 mins so I get all the flavor compounds in the tails.

zues

how far into tails do you go

richard

As far as I am concerned, there is not a straight forward answer for this as every product variation may differ significantly by taste. Once you have determined a cut point by taste, then you can answer by how far for future batches.

grim

The tails side seems far less forgiving to me.

grim

Few months in, it's maturing really nicely. On the nose it's absolutely fabulous, flavor is great (though still young). Solventy edge is wearing off, bouquet more well rounded. This is literally my favorite barrel of rum on the rack right now.

Used a little bit in some blending trials, the impact is amazing. Added into a small sample of our standard dark, it absolutely elevates the product. I'm talking about adding back 4-5mo young rum to 3-4 year old barrels. I think most would argue that the impact would not be positive, but it absolutely is.

I think everyone should do this, even if only as blending stock, I can only see this getting better with time.

Typical rum batch for us is 6 30g barrels output. I'm seriously thinking of doing this with every 6th barrel, and just building up a warchest.

The other big consideration. Stop thinking cuts are cuts. Heads cut is entirely different from the tails cut, they might as well be in entirely different universes. There is so much misconception about "heads = bad", and everything I'm seeing right now is telling me that's absolutely BS propagated by the hobby community.

Smaug

@grim said: Few months in, it's maturing really nicely. On the nose it's absolutely fabulous, flavor is great (though still young). Solventy edge is wearing off, bouquet more well rounded. This is literally my favorite barrel of rum on the rack right now.

Used a little bit in some blending trials, the impact is amazing. Added into a small sample of our standard dark, it absolutely elevates the product. I'm talking about adding back 4-5mo young rum to 3-4 year old barrels. I think most would argue that the impact would not be positive, but it absolutely is.

I think everyone should do this, even if only as blending stock, I can only see this getting better with time.

Typical rum batch for us is 6 30g barrels output. I'm seriously thinking of doing this with every 6th barrel, and just building up a warchest.

The other big consideration. Stop thinking cuts are cuts. Heads cut is entirely different from the tails cut, they might as well be in entirely different universes. There is so much misconception about "heads = bad", and everything I'm seeing right now is telling me that's absolutely BS propagated by the hobby community.

100% on the hobby guys overstating the importance of strick cuts as an across the board rule of thumb necessity.

punkin

Not all of us. Been calling my white rum H&T rum for decades.

jbierling

I think the big difference here is that most "hobby" guys are not waiting 3-4 years. For a shorter timespan, I do think that garbage in garbage out is still true.

punkin

Depends on the portion and the quantity i think. I drank my white rum young.

grim

Blended a little to do a small limited bottling release this weekend.

3:1

Just a bit of a really nice 4yo barrel I've been sitting on to do a single barrel rum, 3 parts. One part the test barrel, which is nowhere near that age.

Spectacular - regular at the distillery said hands down the best rum we've ever made.