I had a hard time receiving the oak barrel from Still-craft. It was delivered more than a month after it was ordered. They never initiated contact. They always had excuses in their replies, but offered no form of compensation. It was the epitome of how not to operate an online business.
After 2 weeks since ordering the barrel in mid-December, I hadn’t received word on whether it was processed, made, or shipped. I tend to have faith in most online companies, but after 2 weeks of radio silence, I had to e-mail them to check on the status. They said that it was being shipped out, and I should receive it in a week.
A week passes with no follow-up from them, so I contact them again. This time, they say that their system had hit some kind of snafu, and asked for my patience. So I reply, “Why did you tell me last week that I was going to be receiving it?” They blamed it again on the system, but that I should be receiving it soon.
Another week passes until they finally provide me with a tracking number, which originated in Mexico. Before ordering, they had specifically told me that the barrel is made in America, but the barrel stand is made in Mexico. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I decided not to make a fuss over this. Only when I receive the barrel a week later (5 weeks) do I realize that I’ve been duped. Based on the “Hecho en Mexico” stickers plastered all over the barrel, I assume that everything was made over there.
“It was the epitome of how not to operate an online business.”
I request a refund, but they refuse due to the small endcap being engraved. They apologize for the inconvenience, and they consider their customer service to be of the utmost importance. Yet, despite all the delays, they never provide any expedited processing, expedited shipping, discount, extras, etc… They did however offer me a 10% coupon for my next purchase, of which there will never be one.
Onto the barrel!
Construction seems decent. I prepped it (soaking it in water to expand), and have now filled it with Bulleit bourbon. I’ll let that age for a year, with the ultimate goal being to age a cocktail in there after the bourbon is done. I’ll do a taste test at 6 months, and then again at 1 year.
Human Guinea Pig 
The StillCraft Team seen this review and wanted to comment about a few things. We work for each customer as high priority to get our very best out as efficiently and quickly as possible. We’ve been working with interns from a couple of the Universities and we had a few pauses during the beginning of the year.
As far as the information on our barrels, we have never said the barrels are made in the U.S.
We always try our best to make sure all customers are equally taken care of. We looked at our logs and cannot find who this customer even is. We would like for whoever posted this to call our customer service line at 855-697-8455. Let us try to come to a happy medium.
Thank you,
StillCraft Team
I also bought a barrel pretty much the same things happened except when I filled it with water a plank busted and I have been trying to get the company for two months to do something about it after numerous attempts to contact them I got one reply and have been ignored since