by gillmang » Tue Feb 07, 2006 11:41 am
Well, the taste I was describing (exhausted barrel taste) really can only apply to a non-bourbon entry in the barrel. If you put bourbon back in the same barrels it came from, only some are different, either to retard evaporation or uniformise the taste, I'm now thinking that's okay even if the condensing occurs for some years. If they retrict it to one season's output they probably feel no significant change can occur to the whiskey, it is still all "the same". Whereas if you mingle with different seasons' whiskey, there is too much "change" due to interaction of "different" whiskeys from the re-barreling (the whiskey in the barrel staves interracting with re-barreled whiskey). This seems a proper interpretation of the rules to me but again, I am not expert in the area.
Gary