Using liquor for flavor

[Jdrummer24]

Could I boil the alcohol out of something like whiskey and add it to my must during primary or secondary to get add a whiskey flavoring to my mead or wine?

Thanks in advance for the help guys!

 

[CKuhns]

Sure could but why waste the Whiskey? I suspect you will also boil off most of the flavor profile you are looking for. A better option in my opinion would be to pour the whiskey over some ice, sip it slowly and add toasted oak chips to your Mead in secondary.

If you do decide to boil some whiskey i would be interested to hear if you had any luck with getting the flavor you were looking for. Oh and for safety sake be sure to have a fire extinguisher handy and stand back. Flambe comes to mind and is used a lot in cooking but can get pretty exciting 'if you are not careful. It does impart some great but very subtle flavors.

 

[imasickboy]

For the most part, the dominant flavors in whiskey come from the barrel it was aged in, and this will be especially true if you'll be diluting it in mead.

+1 on the oak chips.

 

[Maylar]

Last time I was at my LHBS I saw some little bottles of flavor concentrates that you can use for that. Check this for instance -
http://www.homebrewing.org/Still-Spirits-Flavor-Essences_c_299.html

 

[jt21150]

Sure could but why waste the Whiskey? I suspect you will also boil off most of the flavor profile you are looking for. A better option in my opinion would be to pour the whiskey over some ice, sip it slowly and add toasted oak chips to your Mead in secondary.

If you do decide to boil some whiskey i would be interested to hear if you had any luck with getting the flavor you were looking for. Oh and for safety sake be sure to have a fire extinguisher handy and stand back. Flambe comes to mind and is used a lot in cooking but can get pretty exciting 'if you are not careful. It does impart some great but very subtle flavors.

"A better option in my opinion would be to pour the whiskey over some ice, sip it slowly and add toasted oak chips to your Mead in secondary."

Agreed.