What is a Whiskey Blending Unity Ceremony?

Celebrant-led Whiskey Blending Unity Ceremony

A Whiskey Blending Unity Ceremony is a fascinating ritual that can be adapted to suit your personal preferences. You can choose the vessel, the ingredients and even the participants. You and your family and friends can enjoy the results on your anniversary as a reminder of your special day!

The Whiskey Blending ceremony is a symbolic of the blending of the two of you on your wedding day. It is a blending of different spirits, that through mixing and aging together, combine to become something richer, more complex and flavourful… much like a good marriage.

The Whiskey Blending vessel – barrels or infinity bottle?

Barrels for a whiskey blending unity ceremony

Many distilleries sell barrel aging kits, complete with some white whiskey. However, this may not be the optimal set up for you. First of all, white whiskey sold in bottles is already proofed down to a drinking level water-to-alcohol ratio. This whiskey is intended for being aged. Generally, the alcohol that goes into a whiskey barrel is stronger than what you buy from a shop. It is aged at this stronger proof and may actually get stronger or weaker as it ages. When the whiskey comes out of the barrel, it’s at cask strength and is typically blended with distilled water to be proofed down to its bottling ratio.

You may want to consider a custom blend of grain spirits at full cask strength. For example, a High Rye Bourbon, using 55% Corn, 40% Rye, and 5% Barley. This is technically a Bourbon, but with a lot more rye than you’d usually see. 

Whilst you can get kits that blend in smaller batches i.e., 1-litre barrels, you may opt to create a larger batch simply because smaller batches age faster, maybe as quick as 2-3 months. To achieve an aging time that is closer to 12 months, you may choose a 10-litre barrel for your whiskey blending ceremony. 

The size of the barrel is the key to the liquid-to-barrel-surface ratio. So the smaller the barrel, the less amount of time the blend needs to be in contact with the wood. There is also the issue of evaporation to be taken into account. Alcohol is lost in the barrel aging process. Aging a small barrel for a year could result in most of the barrel being lost to the ‘angel’s share’. The average one litre barrel is actually intended for no more than two months of aging.

Small barrel

Because filling and sealing a larger barrel can be a difficult and time-consuming process, you may still opt to go for a smaller sized barrel, even though it means less aging time. It is suggested that the first couple of batches are more for aging the barrel itself and may be very woody. It might not be until the 3rd batch that you get the desired result. 

Medium Barrel

Another thing to consider is that a 10-litre barrel is actually rather large. You may feel it would be a bit too much to expect your guests to sit through a ceremony where they watch you pour 10 litres into a barrel, one bottle at a time. consider instead, choosing for the ceremony to represent a symbolic merging of yourselves AND the joining of your families. You can do this by filling the barrel beforehand, such as at the rehearsal or at a family gathering the night before the wedding ceremony.

Each member of the wedding party will pour a bottle into the barrel so that it is about 9 litres full for the ceremony. On the day of the wedding ceremony, you will each only pour 250ml from your bottles. Resulting in leaving the necessary gap in the barrel and the rest of the whiskey for topping up later.

It is important not to fill the barrel completely in order to allow for the barrel to breathe. In particular, changes in temperature can result in the liquid expanding and contracting. If the barrel is 100% full, it can crack under the pressure.

Sealing the barrel to make it liquid tight

If you are ordering a brand-new barrel to adhere to the strict rules of bourbon, you need to consider how to properly seal the barrel. If the aging barrel was built already liquid tight, the swelling could cause it to break open and leak. Therefore, they are designed to swell shut once filled. That means they may leak for a few days when first filled. This is not something you’d want to discover by accident when you’ve filled it with your symbolic Wedding Day whiskey!

Many distilleries advise you to fill the barrel with hot water (never to the top) six days before the Whiskey Blending ceremony. For the first few days it will swell and leak, but at least you are not losing precious whiskey. It is also important to leave it unplugged and with a gap of air. This will make sure the bung hole doesn’t swell shut or too small to get the bung in later.

Each day, check on the barrel and top it up with water again. If it is still leaking after three days, empty it and refill it with hot water for a few more days of curing. Providing it is no longer leaking, the day before it is due to be filled, empty the water and place the bung in the hole to seal it up so it doesn’t dry out.

After your wedding ceremony, you need to think about storage. The subtle change of temperature from day to night and season to season will help it age better. You will also need to keep an eye on the barrel so that if a leak starts. You can then deal with it before too much is lost. Therefore, it is recommended that you store the barrel out of direct sunlight and in a room that is lived in, where you will soon spot any sign of a leak. 

On your anniversary

For your first wedding anniversary, you will be able pour from the barrel to celebrate. It will come out at cask strength, leaving you to decide whether to proof it down yourselves with distilled water, there and then or keep it at cask strength to adjust when you want to drink it. You may want to give out a few bottles to those loved ones who were part of your wedding party. 

But that is not the end of your barrel. While bourbon technically requires a fresh barrel, other whiskeys can re-use a barrel. Most scotches use old bourbon barrels, for example. Or you might fancy having a go at barrel aged gins, barrel aged beers, or even barrel aged cocktails. The distillers actually say you can get three good agings out of the barrel. As long as you give some extra time to each aging and then it’s good for beer for a while.

Using an infinity bottle for your whiskey blending unity ceremony

Don’t worry if the whole barrel thing seems a little bit too much. You can still incorporate whiskey blending into your wedding ceremony. The infinity bottle is the new trend for whiskey aficionados, but the beauty of it is that you can create it with any level of whiskey know-how. To begin your infinity bottle at your wedding ceremony, why not start with a gorgeous engraved decanter to make it even more special?

To create an infinity bottle, it is not just about pouring any old whiskey into the mix. Just like everything else you have chosen especially for your special day, you will want to consider your blends carefully. With the infinity bottle concept, you choose two whiskeys (or a third to splash in and make things interesting). Allow them to age for a while in the bottle together. As you drink down the blend, you add more of the same types, or introduce new types as your tastes change and grow. The bottle never ends. Much like your love for each other, the experiences you share and the adventures you enjoy in your future life together.

How to Blend Your Own Whiskey

If blending from bases isn’t for you, maybe blending your two favourite aged whiskeys is more up your street. This seems pretty fool proof, but if you want your anniversary blend to be great, you’ll want to consider blending two complementary whiskeys. Not only should you consider flavours, but because we are all about the symbolism, you could choose your favourites, or ones that have sentimental meanings for you. Consider your first date whiskey, the one you drank at ‘The Proposal’, the one you shared at Christmas last year.

Finally, whatever you do, NEVER SHAKE THE BOTTLE! Whiskey hates that! Gently rock it if you feel you must.