Fifteen Minutes in the Forest: The Making of a Bourbon Barrel 

Thank you! Not sure where you are located, but if you are in Virginia, we'll be taking a tour of these mills on October 14th. See forestupdate.frec.vt.edu/landownerprograms/field-tours.html for registration information. More tour details will be available early next week.

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Thanks for the question! If a barrel fails testing, it gets sent to the cooper. The actual repair will depend on the type of leak (between the staves versus bunghole). There were two coopers working when I was there. Looked like they were replacing staves as needed.

No Brasil existem madeiras exuberantes. Nossa Cachaça vem sendo testada em diversas madeiras que transmitem sabores tão exóticos quanta a própria floresta amazônica. Ficaria muito curioso em testar whiskey em madeira brasileira

Not sure. I don't think you can buy them from the stave mill directly - but you can reach out to ask them: speysidebci.com

Well that is an interesting question. It truly is an art. I suggest contacting the cooperage in the video: Speyside Cooperage: speysidebci.com and see if they have any apprenticeship opportunities.

hi, I am a French cooper, this is not possible. But with a cable inside the staves it is possible, it is just for demonstration (we can use this barrel)

The oak wood is grown in the forests. When the trees reach a certain size, they are harvested and made into staves that are then fashioned into barrels. If you want to see this process first hand, we are having a tour on October 14th to visit some of the local forests and both mills featured in this video. Tour details and registration information is available here: forestupdate.frec.vt.edu/landownerprograms/field-tours.html.

I believe charring is one of their proprietary processes and they ask no photos or filming in that part of the mill.