Editor’s note: This accessory was provided to us by the party behind it as a test sample. In accordance with our editorial guidelines, this in no way affected the final result of this review.
With the wide variety of smoking kits on the market, making smoked cocktails at home has never been easier. A few friends got together in North Kansas City to create such an incense set. Aged & Charred offers five incense sets including an incense burner. At The Whiskey Wash we received the Smoke Top Lid Kit which includes an oak cocktail smoker top, strainers, wood shavings, torch and butane. This version of the kit costs $99.99.
For the price, I expected the packaging to be more than a box, especially when other incense sets offer better storage options. The contents are tightly packed, and it’s nice that the butane is included, but there’s no room to add extra wood chip packs or multiple incense burners. If you’re looking to upgrade your wooden whiskey cases, you can keep the Smoke Top Lid Kit in one of them. Otherwise, you’ll need to upgrade to the Smoke Lid Premium Kit for $139.99.
The incense set is very easy to use right out of the box. After filling my torch, which is beautiful and elegant in gun metal, I grabbed a Rocks jar. The oak smoker, which has a thimble-like sieve for wood chips, looks like a flying saucer with its tapered bottom. The oak shavings that come standard with the kit are tiny and a little goes a long way.
Aged & Charred Smoke Top Lid Kit (Image by Courtney Kristjana/The Whiskey Wash)
It only takes a few seconds to light the wood chips before placing the smoker cover. The smoke seeped out between the glass and the wood smoker, but eventually it stopped. The way the smoke just hovers so thick over the liquid amazes me. I leave the smoke attachment on for a few minutes before taking a sip to ensure a deep smoke flavor. If you remove the topper, the smoke just lingers in the glass.
The smell of the oak shavings is lovely as it wafts into the air, but if the smoke doesn’t dissipate when you take a sip, you could inhale it. Aged & Charred has four pack wood chip bundles for $23.99. The fruit four pack contains pear, cherry, peach and apple wood chips. The Bold four pack contains hickory, pecan, mesquite and oak. The Variety Four Pack includes hickory, apple, cherry and oak.
I was concerned that the 100 percent oak smoke lid would burn with the torch. However, it only scorched a little due to the heat from the woodchip sieve. To keep the screens clean, Aged & Charred offer a cleaning brush and if the residue is a little sticky the screens can be soaked in rubbing alcohol. Since I only have oak chips, I just keep the used chips in the smoker lid when storing the kit.
I recommend the Aged & Charred Smoke Top Lid Kit. The conical smoke sauce goes well with everything from a Glencairn to a mixing glass. I personally love the fact that I can set it on a shaker can and build the smoke while using the other can to add my ingredients before shaking them together. The ease of use of this incense set is probably the best.
