Having just bottled my own little whiskey, I'm getting some first hand experience with maturation rates. My rye lost tons of liquid, but much less alcohol. That may have been due to warm storage, very porous oak, or questionable cooperage (or all of the above). I had to bottle the whiskey before losing too much liquid and thus avoiding a bottle of undrinkable poison. But that was me, a Long Beach shnook making one bottle of rye in his dining room.