Best of barrel-aging in St. Louis right now

Editor's note: Cielo has closed.

As the American craft distilling movement comes of age, different types of used, or “spent,” barrels have landed in the hands of area chefs, bartenders, brewers and artisan food purveyors who use them to age their own liquid goods. We’ve seen these creative pros lay down everything from cocktails to hot sauce to milk to bitters on wood in a quest to impart the flavor of the barrel and its former contents into their wares. Whiskey barrels, wine barrels, sherry casks – there’s a palpable hysteria over using any and all variety of spent wood. Whether you’ve been hooked on the trend since you first tasted a barrel-aged Negroni or the barrel-aging craze is brand-new to you, here are some of the best projects around town right now.

Woodside Urban Whiskey Barrel-aged Honey
After impressive results barrel-aging their Sweet Sophie maple syrup, the folks at The Wine & Cheese Place tapped local Renaissance man Greg Rannells, producer of Woodside Urban Honey in Maplewood, to age some of his delicious honey. Rested for six months in a 5-gallon oak barrel that once held Palm Ridge Reserve whiskey, the honey took on a deep amber color from the char of the oak, while notes of toasted orange, vanilla and baking spice impart a unique flavor with a long finish. Use it as a glaze for fish, as a sweetener for tea or in a Bee’s Knees cocktail. The applications are limitless.
$8. The Wine & Cheese Place, multiple locations, wineandcheeseplace.com

Mississippi Mud Barrel-aged Sumatra Coffee Beans
To confer unique barrel notes to roasted coffee, Mississippi Mud owner-roaster Chris Ruess aged green Sumatra beans for four to six weeks in a French oak barrel from Chandler Hill Vineyards that had previously held its estate norton. The result is a richly fruit-forward, low-acid coffee that is fantastic as a cold brew or pour-over, though a cup of drip coffee is tasty, too. Mississippi Mud also offers a blend of its aged and standard roast Sumatra beans, which retains the jam and spicy red fruit notes but results in a lighter cup.
$12. Mississippi Mud Coffee, 1233 Pine St., 314.369.0432, mississippimudcoffee.com

Cielo Cocktail Crush
Lots of local bars and restaurants have offered barrel-aged cocktails over the last few years, but Cielo’s current offerings rank among the most extensive – and entertaining. The bar team, led by restaurant and bar manager Cory Cuff and assistant bar manager Gorie Taylor, has designed a menu option it tongue-in-cheek refers to as Cocktail Crush, which lands somewhere between playing Power Hour in college and a choose-your-own-adventure menu. Cocktail Crush features five barrel-aged cocktails – Negroni, Manhattan, vieux carre, vesper and empire – plus house barrel-aged vodka, gin, tequila, cachaça, grappa and amaro. Guests enjoy a 30-minute session tasting the current lineup of aged cocktails. Alternatively, imbibers can pay by the drink to build their own, classic or otherwise, using the house barrel-aged spirits.
Tasting session: $35; build-your-own cocktail: $12. Cielo, 999 N. Second St., St. Louis, 314.881.5800