Learn the difference between double oaking and true finishing, from Woodford Reserve's second barrel innovation to Angel's Envy's port cask finish.

Understand why some whiskeys turn cloudy over ice, what “non-chill filtered” on a label actually means, and when it matters.

Learn how master blenders build consistency across hundreds of barrels, and how light, heat, and oxygen can quietly degrade a bottle after it's opened.

About the course

This module covers everything that happens between “barrel ready” and “customer ready.” You'll learn how secondary barreling and finishing work, including the regulatory questions they raise, and how distillers experiment with alternative wood species like French oak and Mizunara. From there, you'll cover chill filtration, proofing water, batching versus blending, and what actually happens to whiskey chemically after it's bottled and opened. This is a standalone module, it does not include the Level One exam or certification, which are only awarded with the complete 10-module program.

Your Instructor: Susan Reigler

Susan Reigler wrote the book on American whiskey. Eight of them, actually. She's the author or co-author of eight books on bourbon and American spirits, an adjunct professor of Beer & Spirits at Eastern Kentucky University, and a working spirits judge, which means she's spent decades doing exactly what this course teaches you to do, at a level most drinkers never reach. She's judged whiskeys against each other by the hundreds, trained hospitality students on the science behind every barrel, and turned some of the industry's driest regulations into stories people actually remember. That's the instructor behind every module in American Whiskey Scholar: someone who has done the tasting, read the fine print, and can tell you, precisely, why your glass tastes the way it does.

Curriculum

1 Chapter · 11 Lessons

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Welcome to Finishing & Bottling

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      I. Secondary Barreling and Finishing

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      I. Secondary Barreling and Finishing - The Art of the Finish

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      II. Exploring Alternative Wood Species

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      III. Filtration

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      IV. Proofing

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      V. Batching and Blending

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      VI. Bottling and Preservation

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      VII. Glossary of Key Terms

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      Quiz

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      IX. Recommended Reading

Learn what happens after the barrel.

Enroll in Finishing & Bottling and understand the final steps to the glass.

$49.00

Enroll now