Red Head Barrels 2L Distillery Grade Charred Oak Aging Barrel for Whiskey, Rum & Wine

Good quality. Came as expected. Will update after first batch

Prepare the Barrel as suggested on the website or listed on the advert inserts. My barrels did not drip when filled with water (seasoned with an inch of vanilla bean[scraped out seeds] and 2 drops therapeutic lemon essential oil). There was some seepage, however, not enough to wet the paper towels beneath them. I used a soft wire brush to clean the areas where there was seepage. That was day 3. No more seepage day 4. Day 5, I drained and filled the barrels with clear and flavored (no fruit) spirits made deep in the backyard. May update later. - well constructed - barrels are 1 liter - initial value-no dripping 10 - appearance 10 (you may notice that racks are lower on one end, while aging spigot on higher end, reversing after aging)

Excellent item! Size exactly as described. Perfect gift. Check out their website for additional products including liquor essences and flavor enhancers. Amazon didn't ship the item very securely, using a bag instead of a box.

Leaked a lot. Had to call RedHead for support and then register for warranty. Send pics of the leak and stains on barrel.

I love these barrels and highly recommend them! I am on my 3rd one. It came in today and is filled, per instructions, with warm water. There are no leaks as of yet. I have never had a barrel leak. I believe that is because I start the curing process as soon as it comes in. I have friends who received these for Christmas and waited until they "got around to it" to start the curing process. It is very dry here in the Northeast in the winter and I believe that is where they had their problems with leakage. Your mileage may vary. I get the 2 liter barrel and typically age Manhattans. My process is as follows: 1. Check for leaks with water (usually 2 days) 2. Drop in 700 ml of 135 proof Grenadine Rum for about 4-6 days to add flavor. 3. Make Manhattans. I make them 2 1/2 - 1 bourbon to vermouth. In a 2 liter barrel, that equals approx. 48 oz of bourbon to 19 oz of sweet vermouth. 5 tsp of orange bitters and into the barrel. Age to taste. I usually make about 6 batches before turning to other uses. One that has been a "hit" everywhere has been Slaine Irish whiskey (better than Jameson imho) aged after Manhattans. After that I have dropped Scotch (I had 2 bottles of fairly inexpensive Scotch which were rendered eminently drinkable) and tequila into the barrel. Also... top notch service!! My very first barrel developed a problem with the spigot somewhere around my 6th batch. I made a phone call and they sent me a new spigot, free of charge, along with a cool little flask. (probably 2 oz). The woman was very friendly on the phone and just wanted to know what I needed. No questions about how long I had the barrel, what I used it for, did I drop it, or any of those other "oh, sorry, we can't help you" questions.

We purchased barrels twice from Red Head through Amazon. Neither barrel cured properly and continued to leak for weeks. I went through four containers of barrel wax (2 for each barrel, and which I had to BUY from Red Head) to no avail. The first barrel made such a mess, we finally gave up on it entirely and unfortunately didn't bother to complain or request a refund. Foolishly, we decided to give the product another chance and bought another. I followed all the instructions on curing and waxing to the letter, but the second barrel still leaked. In fact the second barrel was a bigger problem than the first, as it had a leaking crack through the length of the spigot, which was a whole other issue and had nothing to do with curing the barrel. After the bad experience with the second barrel, I called Red Head directly. I talked to Tina there, who clearly had little interest in the problem. Tina said to email her about the issue and attach pictures of the current barrel, which I promptly did. During our discussion, Tina said I didn't let it cure enough, and that it might a take "several weeks" to cure properly. I had let it cure about 7 days, and at that point, it didn't appear any water was leaking. Once I filled it with $300+ of bourbon and vermouth, the leaking restarted. Red Head's own website says about curing: "This may take as little as one minute or as long as a week." Clearly there's a disconnect between what the site says and what Tina claims. If she was in fact correct, why don't their instructions or their website provide accurate information? And if it does take a month or two to cure, why can't they tell people that in their product description - who buys a barrel and doesn't plan to use it for months? Secondly, considering both of our barrels leaked, why isn't barrel wax provided as a matter of course with each order, and why should we have to pay for it, if it's apparently a given you'll need it? Why should a customer have to request it separately and wait even longer to use the barrel (assuming the wax even ends up being effective)? Tina's other brilliant insight into why the leaking restarted was some garbled explanation about the difference in viscosity of water and the liquor. I have zero confidence in her knowledge of fluid dynamics, and if by chance I'm wrong about that, she should learn to explain the issue properly to a customer. And just like the curing time and the wax issues, if this really is a legitimate explanation of new or continued leaking, why the hell are the instructions and website absolutely silent on the possibility that this can be an issue? As for the leaks themselves, they occurred along the barrel rings and also along the stave seams. As already mentioned, the spigot had a crack in it and did not close properly. These were not fixable conditions and I requested a full refund or a replacement barrel from Red Head. Tina said, she'd have someone review my complaint and the pictures I sent, but no one ever replied. I followed up with another email, and again got no reply. During out last conversation, Tina said I should just buy a pre-cured barrel if I was having these problems. Tina's offered solution that maybe I should just buy a pre-cured infused barrel is infuriating and insulting. I wasn't going to argue with her, but how about making my first purchases right before you try and sell me something else? Or maybe she thinks I'm not competent enough to follow the curing instructions, to which I would merely say: maybe I am, maybe I'm not, but it sure would help if any instructions in print or online from their company were complete and accurate to begin with. If you haven't barrel aged before, please understand barrel aging liquor like this is an expensive process. Yes, the barrels were $100 each, but as they're 5 liter barrels, the liquor it takes to fill them can run an additional $300-$400. Having the barrel fail, as these did, jeopardizes a minimum $500 total investment. Ultimately, I contacted Amazon, and obtained a full refund for the second barrel. It is great to know Amazon stands behind their customers even when an individual seller ignores complaints.

Solid barrel looks great and well packaged

I’m super happy with this little barrel. It was very tight, zero leaks. Though it didn’t leak, I still treated like all barrels, I have bought in the past, including 50 gal barrels for wine. I put boiling water in is so to swell it up. I’m very happy with the barrel. I Definitely will buy a 5gal or I think 20 L for whisky. The thing that is nice with a fired oak barrel is, I can make sugar wash and mellow it out in one month. Then I can use the whiskey for anything and it tastes great.

短期での熟成にかなり効果的です はんとしで８年物並みの熟成が出来ます。 かなり評判が良いです。

Regretted not looking at recent reviews and now I am also resorting to giving one star. Bought my own barrel wax and it cannot seal the barrel at all even after multiple attempts and half my tin of wax. Very poor quality as compared to the other barrel I bought. Vast difference in built quality. Will only use it as decoration now. Does not do it job at all. I’ll attempt a refund. Hope it’s not too late!

Terrible. I wouldn't recommend this barrel to anyone. I bought it as a gift, and the next day one of the metal hoops broke, and the stand was also broken. I asked the company to replace it, but they refused. I think it's awful. This shouldn't be allowed since they advertise a 30-day return policy.

Very good quality 3 liter barrel, Leak bit on the first 12 hours but it sealed itself good. Now doing some aging on a moonshine 😀😀😀

蛇口の所から漏れてくる。代用品がないからどうにもならん。縦置きにして何とかしてるが接着剤なのかかたまった樹液なのか知らないけど何かが沢山ついてる。全体的に作りが甘い。