I bought an 8 gallon Black Swan barrel from a whiskey maker. The barrel had bourbon in it. I aged my RIS in it for 5 weeks. I sampled at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and at 5 I thought it was ready. From there I bottled it and it is fantastic. I bottled in champagne bottles and gave them away during the holidays. The feedback I received was excellent. I still have a dozen or so bottles left and plan to save them for special occasions.
Since I had great luck with the barrel, I ordered some oak staves from Black Swan to add to 6 gallons of Montepulciano and Nero D'Avola. The wine started as fresh juice in buckets and I now have the staves in the carboys. I am going on 3 weeks with the oak, and should probably sample them soon. I'll post an update after sampling.