What Happens to the Old American Oak Barrels after Whiskey?

     For years whiskey producers were struggling what to do with a large number of barrels after they had been used for 3 to 4 years aging whiskey.  There were a large number of them being stored in warehouses at a great expense to the whiskey producers.  Today this is no longer a problem at all.  Barrels that were almost given away to get rid of them theses days are going for $200.00 or more depending on their condition and how many years they have spent with spirits inside.



     Today they have become a very valuable commodity, the demand for used whiskey barrels has grown exponentially over the past 10 or 15 years.  Every other spirit producer is vying for them along with a large number of beer producers as well.  The demand for them has all but used up all of the barrels that were sitting around in their storage warehouses and there are producers waiting for the next batch to come available as they are emptied.


     Some of the old barrels are being cut up and

used as flooring and others made into flower pots  My friend Troy Roberts at Drum Circle Distillery in Sarasota, Florida is loaning his rum barrels to a local brewery for aging beer then putting his rum into them giving the rum a new flavor from the barrels.  There are many sherry and other wine using old whiskey casks and then having rum makers buy them for aging of the rum afterward.  The days of the old whiskey barrels being an expensive storage issue is pretty much gone, and the life of a retired whiskey barrel has been greatly extended by the producers of almost every other spirit, wine and beer out there.