i finally proofed down and bottled some of the stuff i made again, so its time to post some tasting notes
first up is the honey rum i made last september: its a pretty light rum, both in color and flavor. its rather floral and ester forward, i think that kilo of honey i added really brings in some of the brighter notes, while the molasses has kind of taken a back seat. initially i bottled this at 44% abv but it presented rather harsh, like alcohol that isnt meant for drinking, it became much better at 41% abv though, all that harshness instantly disappeared
next is the biscuit whiskey i made in november: there definitely is a sweetness like that from baked goods, along with clear biscuit/cookie flavors, though there also is a sweetness in it that kind of reminds me of the corn in the chocolate bourbon ive made a few times before. finally, there are some subtle notes of dried, dark fruit. i also initially bottled this at 43% abv, it presented as quite headsy, reminiscent of shittily cut apple, pear or quince brandys, that also disappeared instantly once i dropped it to 41% abv, turning it into a really nice drink
finally, we have the shochu that i aged on oak: i compared it to the white shochu, both were proofed to 40% abv. the oaked shochu is much more rounded, the slight harshness from the alcohol has disappeared and it has gained a good backbone from the tannin, that however also muddled the clearer flavors present in the white spirit, namely the koji like aromas that you get from smelling stuff like miso if you disregard the more pungent smell that miso has, as well as the kind of rice vinegar flavor (minus the vinegar of course). instead, the citrus adjacent aromas from the mold fermentation of the rice have stepped into the foreground, with citrus adjacent i mean the kind of flavor you get when you bake a cake using those little bottles of citrus essence/extract

fine tuning the abv at which you bottle your spirits can really make a difference, even if its just a 2% abv change
i also want to try aging a new batch of shochu using one oak stave and one cherry stave instead of just oak next time

the deer pounces in an attempt to catch its prey