Stonehouse Cellars 2016 Oak Series

The story behind our 2016 oak experiment. We chose a 2 x 3 factorial design to answer the question which oak suits our cab best. The factors were new versus neutral barrel and oak origin (American, French, Eastern European). The winner was determined in 3 independent blind tastings and each time the neutral barrel with American oak staves won. We barrel this as the 2016 Mimulus. Jake decided to barrel three of the new oak barrels separately as the oak series. What we did not know at the time of bottling, i.e. at the time this video was shot, is that the oak series would develop better in the reductive conditions of the bottle than the Mimulus. We now like the oak series much better than the Mimulus but cannot rule out that the Mimulus won't, at some point, surpass the new oak barrels of the oak series. Only time will tell.