[splonk]

Quite a few people have tried. Generally the reviews are terrible. The barrel aging process is more complicated than most people think. Lost Spirits (now in Vegas, formerly in LA, Salinas, and Barcelona before that) makes some pretty drinkable stuff that I like, but I'm never going to argue with someone who hates it, because it's noticeably different. There's also some marketing gimmicks like Blackened, where they claim to play Metallica at the barrels to vibrate them or something. This probably doesn't help the reputation of the segment much.

The aging process is somewhat accelerated by temperature, but it's not a simple relationship. This is one of the stated reasons that whiskey made in hot climates (e.g. Amrut in India, Kavalan in Taiwan) tend to be aged less.