Well, I wanted to get some oak wood but I could not find any source that was local. Then I stumbled onto what could be an awesome source for well aged oak wood with a kick. Stopping by my local garden nursery to pick up some landscaping stuff, I saw a stack of 1/2 oak barrels used as planters. Now, I've seen these barrels other places and they are from wineries and had wine stored in them. But these barrels are from a distillery and had been used to age whiskey. I thought the wiskey smoke would be pretty interesting so I bought one. I took it home and disassembled the thing then started to cut it into cubes. The aroma from the cuts and the saw dust was pure heaven! Man! An absolutely beautiful fragrance from the dust. I then took a wood drill bit, used to bore 1 1/2 inch holes in wood, the type of drill bit that looks like a paddle with a center spike, and cut some holes in the wood. This left me with almost perfect wood chips as the blade cut huge spirals of wood curls boring through the oak. I'll use those for things like smoking cheese and things that need a quick smoke but cooler temperature than a block of wood will yield.
So, I recommend checking around and getting your oak wood that's been seasoned with whiskey and comes complete with a slight charcoal finish on one side.
Cheers!
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