I had a very successful experiment making my own white oak barrel reserve. The barrel reserve companies charge a decent amount of money for their juice so I figured I would make a how to so you can make your own unique reserve at home and either save some money or make something unique. Enjoy.
Supplies with cost:
- 1 liter charred oak barrel - $40
- Oak barrel sanitizing kit - $15
- 150ml+ glass beaker / measuring cup - $5
- 2.5ml+ dropper - $2
- Fine mesh stainless steel tea strainer - $2
- 4 30ml empty plastic bottles - $3.25
*Cost based on $29.99 per 276ml of nicotine and $2.99 per 15ml of flavoring.
- 152ml Unflavored Nicotine - $16.50
- 5.7ml East Coast Tobacco Flavoring - $1.13
- 5.7ml Coumarin Pipe Tobacco Flavoring - $1.13
- 7.6ml Maple Rum Tobacco Flavoring - $1.50
- 7.6ml Toasted Almond Flavoring - $1.50
- 5.7ml Madagascar Vanilla Flavoring - $1.13
- 5.7ml Brown Sugar Flavoring - $1.13
- Total cost:
$91.27
Preparation:
When your barrel arrives you must rinse it out with boiling water at least 3 times.
Then add the contents of your barrel cleaning kit with hot water until the barrel is full to the top. Plug it with the included bung and let it sit for 3 days to sanitize and expand the barrel to prevent leaking. Check the barrel each day for 3 days and add hot water as needed to keep it full. After 3 days is up rinse your barrel with hot water 3 times and you are ready to go.
The Recipe:
(24mg 65PG/35VG) Nicotine E-Liquid - 152 ml 3,040 drops 80 %
East Coast Tobacco 5.7 ml - 114 drops 3 %
Coumarin Pipe Tobacco 5.7 ml - 114 drops 3 %
Maple Rum Tobacco 7.6 ml - 152 drops 4 %
Toasted Almond 5.7 ml - 114 drops 3 %
Madagascar Vanilla 7.6 ml - 152 drops 4 %
Brown Sugar 5.7 ml - 114 drops 3 %
Totals - 190 ml - 600 drops at 100 %
18 mg Nicotine per ml - 73.75%PG -26.25%VG
At this point your barrel is ready and your juice is mixed. It should be a light brown color like honey.
Pour your liquid through the top of the barrel making sure the barrels pour spout is in the closed position. Then plug the top of the barrel with the supplied bung. Lightly shake the barrel once per day to ensure your juice continues to have an even mix. Pull the bung out of the top once per day as well for at least 5 minutes to let your juice breathe.
Steeping:
Let the juice steep for at least 7 days before you take your first sample pouring through your strainer.
Then take a sample every 3 days until you love your juice. Two weeks is about the perfect amount of time.
You can see in the progressing samples below that the juice darkens in the barrel over time.
The Final Pour:
Once you are ready to pull your juice I recommend you pour from the top of the barrel upside down. Make sure to pour your juice through the fine mesh stainless steel strainer into your glass beaker for bottle distribution. Your liquid should be a very dark brown at this point.
Cost Comparison:
The cost of all of the supplies was about $92.00. Out of 190ml I was able to bottle 135ml so the barrel took 55ml for itself. So $92 for 135ml of reserve is $0.68 per ml or $20.40 per 30ml bottle.
Bought Reserve = $38.00 per 30ml
DIY Reserve = $20.40 per 30ml
So you will save about $18.00 per 30ml bottle on your very first try and it only gets cheaper from there because you already have all of the supplies.
Final Thought:
The white oak barrel made a dramatic impact on the juice. It brought out the tobaccos, put the sweets in the background and added a bit of a smoky flavor to it. It is truly worth every penny to DIY your own reserve and if you ever have any questions I will be glad to help. Thank you.
..This has me wondering on a new way to make some good 
