I haven't but I've been looking for them, as I have read lots of posts of others useing them with great results. Suggestion, put a pint of the chips in a jar, and cover with a good quality cream sherry. Let marinate a while, then use them where appropriate for the flavor- rums, whiskey, corn, whatever. Adds a nice touch.

Today I went to a local patio store to get some propane tanks refilled,and when i went in to pay i saw a rack of smoker chips.They had 9 different
kinds.One bag said wine barrel chips,from woodbridge winerys.Needless to say,I bought a bag.Opened them up and surenuff,wine stains into oak.The pieces are bigger than most smoker chips,so these should work good.They have some wine smell,but nothing like the jack daniels chips,you can smell the whiskey in them from a foot away,with the bag closed up.I will be trying these wine chips out soon,in a quart or 2,and will let you all know what I find out.Think Ill buy some spanish sherry and soak some in it.Could be interesting!
wineo

Travis,Ive got a 1/2 gal.of corn/malt whiskey that I used those chip on,and its real good!
You cant drink very much of it,cause its uncut.
Its 135proof,and it taste real smooth,till you swallow it,then you get the burn!I have a gal.more that i ran last night,cut to 110proof,thats sitting on those chips right now.
Im shooting for a heavily oaked 107proof whiskey,thats smooth going down.I may have to add some heads,cause I guess I did a good job of making the cuts.It taste too clean now,but I will wait till the oak has done its job,to be sure.
wineo

John,I put some of those wine barrel chips in a pint jar,and filled it with uncut heads from yesterdays run.Today I took a peek,and the color is much more reddish tint,instead of the brown color from regular oak.Im going to use a little of this to spice up the gallon I have on the JD chips. Im thinking these wine chips would be the thing for a scotch.I will use these on the wheat germ,after I do tasting.Looks like jonny walker red.
wineo

m davis, I will have to try this. Everything I have read, apple will age much quicker than oak and a better flavor if not overdone. I have apple trees, so no problem there. Ive only read that the apple can over power the flavor?

Thanks for the lead, will try.

'apple wood chips...so what I do is age on carbon and toasted hickory chips for 2 weeks'
The above is from n davis post of March 28,07. I have read other posts talk about aging with carbon. what does the carbon do in the agring process and how much do you use? I'm assumeing this is activatied carbon that is used in the filtration process.

I love this fourm and think all of you are geniuses. Thanks for all the great information.

I use 1 tablespoon of carbon per quart -- I try to stay around 120 proof for aging and drinking. I use it because it helps mellow the shine out a little quicker, keeps that little taste that you get on the back of your tongue from happening. ,make sure to filter the carbon dust out with cotton -- takes alot longer to filter but the dust carries nasties with it and can carry over to finished product if you dont get it out, The hickory or any wood used with carbon ,put in at same time, will not have much effect on color or taste; the carbon cancels out the aging but helps with maturing. In my opinion the hickory helps level out a little bit of taste and helps with the mellowing, probably isnt worth the trouble, but once I got my system going..........anyway hope that helps answer your question.