A whiskey's age statement is a simple marker of quality in popular culture, with an even simpler rule of thumb: Older is generally better. But the rule, and the age statement in general, are painfully generalized, simplified ways of quickly informing the average drinker about what they are buying.
Just because a bottle of Scotch whiskey is 30 years old doesn't mean it's better than a whiskey half its age. And age statements are not as obvious as you might think when drinking neat whiskey.
The truth is that age statements are not as simple as they seem; Most whiskey drinkers may not fully understand what this number means, and worrying too much about the numbers could cause you to miss out on some incredible bottles of bourbon, rye, or whiskey. Canadian whiskey.
So before you reach for the bottle with the big number on the top shelf, read below to learn more about age statements and answers to important questions like: Does whiskey age in the bottle?
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What is Aging?
One of the things that legally makes whiskey whiskey is contact with wood. Contact with wood determines how age is determined; thus, a quickly “aged” whiskey that is in contact with wood for a few seconds still qualifies as whiskey in the US, but is not straight whiskey. Other types of whiskey, such as bourbon, Irish, Scotch, Canadian and Japanese whiskeys, also have their own rules.
For example, bourbon must be aged in new, charred oak barrels. Straight bourbon should do this for at least two years. In Scotland it cannot be labeled “whisky” until it has been aged for three years and one day.
But regardless of the numbers, the barrel is important because it is often the whiskey's No. 1 source of flavor when bottled. Whiskey penetrates the wood fibers, breaking down compounds such as wood sugar and then pulling them through the wood into the whiskey. Temperature plays an important role in this: When wood heats up, it expands and allows more liquid to penetrate. When it cools, it contracts and pushes the whiskey (and colorants, sugars, and other flavors) back into the liquid. It's very similar to brewing tea.
Can Whiskey Age in the Bottle?
A few months ago, a friend of mine texted me with a question. While rummaging through his parents' liquor cabinet, he came across a dusty bottle of Scotch that Bush Senior had acquired while in office. Did he find a bottle of whiskey that was 30+ years old? No, he didn't. Whiskey does not continue to age in the bottle.
“The age of whiskey is a reflection of the time it takes from the moment it is first put into the barrel to the time it is thrown away,” says whiskey expert and author Lew Bryson. Whiskey Tasting: An Insider's Guide to the Unique Pleasures of the World's Finest Spirits.
Bryson also explains that the age on the label is a reflection of the youngest ingredient in the final bottle.
“There are probably older whiskeys mixed into the mix,” he says.[so] A whiskey's age statement is the age of the youngest whiskey in the bottle at the time of legal bottling.
So if interaction with wood is where “aging” occurs, that means our hypothetical bottle of Macallan is always 12 years old, even when sitting in the cupboard.
Whiskey does not age in the bottle. In fact, it is quite motionless. As long as it is stored properly, whiskey will not change much in the bottle. The change he sees is related to oxygen exposure, light exposure, and temperature fluctuations, all of which are generally bad for him.
The best you can hope for from a bottle of 12 year old whiskey is that it still tastes like a great 12 year old whiskey.
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What are the Limits of Age Statements?
Age statements can also be reductive. Many bottles labeled as 12 years old may contain a blend of whiskeys aged 12 to sometimes 15-16 years or more, depending on the brand. With the exception of single cask or single cask whiskeys (a bottle labeled single cask or single cask may contain whiskey from only one cask), some bottles are the product of a master blender using a variety of whiskeys to achieve the desired end result.
Master blenders can use older stocks to add nuance to younger whiskey in order to replicate a whiskey profile from batch to batch. But the whole process is like mixing a new can of specialty paint: You may have to use different materials the second time.
Making 12-year whiskey is not as easy as taking a few pallets of 12-year whiskey and pouring it into a tank.
Barrels mature differently and no two are the same. Balvenie Global Ambassador Gemma Paterson emphasizes that although there are more than 20 million casks in warehouses across Scotland, “each one is as unique as its fingerprint, a snowflake”. The art of maturing whiskey is actually a waiting game based on time and patience. Samples need to be taken from the barrels regularly and shared with our Malt Master to then determine when the whiskey has reached its sweetest point in maturation.”
How Long Is Whiskey Usually Aged?
There is a second element to this seemingly tedious process: the search for exceptional barrels. Some whiskeys reach their peak around 12 years of age, while others may have room to grow until 18, 21 or even 30 years of age. Some whiskeys can reach surprising ages; Anything over 70 proof isn't unheard of in Scotland, and in Kentucky you'll occasionally hear bourbon over 25 proof.
Many people wonder why not every barrel is aged until, say, 23 years. This will definitely make Pappy Van Winkle fans happier.
There are a few reasons experts will point out if you ask. No.1: Waiting 23 years means paying taxes without making a profit for 23 years. Most shareholders (and all accountants) will think this is a nightmare. You, the consumer, will have to bear some of this cost by paying more for their bottles to offset production costs.
But more importantly, some whiskeys cannot reach 23; In fact, most cannot achieve this.
Bryson says a lot of bad things can happen if whiskey stays in the barrel for too long. “A whiskey can evaporate completely, become completely solvent, or become so brittle that it 'collapses' [loses structure]or [it could] It becomes watertight in the barrel, at that point it's not whiskey anymore,” he says.
As whiskeys age, “they take on more wood flavor from the barrel,” says Harlen Wheatley, master distiller at Buffalo Trace, which stocks one of the most sought-after bourbon varieties in the country. Sometimes a really old whiskey can be too wet. My personal favorite is the 8-10 year range.”
It's something you'll hear echoed by Wild Turkey, Maker's Mark, Jim Beam and others: Most Kentucky masters feel the sweet spot for good whiskey is between 5 and 10 years of age. In Scotland, due to lower temperatures, whiskey ages more slowly (usually about a third of the speed). Scotch whiskey producers aren't that uniform, but if you ask most of them to show you a delicious cask, it will inevitably be in the mid-to-late 20s to mid-to-late 30s.
Why these intervals? Between 5 and 10 years of age in Kentucky, whiskey achieves an interesting balance between barrel impact and wood impact. This means that in a good barrel or small batch, you will taste the best flavors of the grain and the liquid in the barrel. The same is more or less true of Scotland's sweet spot.
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The Future of Aging Whiskey
Throughout whiskey history, it has been difficult to prevent aging. People have tried many strategies to “trick” whiskey over the centuries. Some have attempted to increase the surface area of the wood in contact with the liquid in order to speed up flavor extraction. They used smaller barrels, added sawdust. And it produced mostly pretty weak whisky.
To offset this, whiskey is also difficult to store when it gets “too old.” A bottle over the top will taste like lightly roasted sawdust, leaving thick tannins in your mouth as if you were chewing on a tea bag.
One thing that seems to have an impact is temperature control. Woodford Reserve and some other distilleries will “heat cycle” their warehouses, essentially heating them over the winter to get a few more cycles.
Buffalo Trace took it to the next level. In 2018, Buffalo Trace and sister brand The Last Drop opened Warehouse P, a cold storage facility in Kentucky to test the effects on whiskey by slowing down the heating and cooling cycles. We will learn more about what this means over the next decade.
Does Age Statement Indicate Quality?
Despite decades of marketing telling you otherwise, the unifying truth is that age is just a number. This number can be a great guide to finding more stuff you'll like, but beating yourself up because that $200 pour tastes like you're milling lumber without a breathing mask isn't worth the stress.
We asked Wheatley if there was a perfect age for bourbon, and his simple answer was that there is no such age. “It also depends on everyone's taste profile,” he explained. “What seems old to me might be perfect for you.”
Whiskey making is about more than one factor, and while age is important, it's not even close to the only factor.
“There are so many variables to work with, such as placement on different warehouse floors, seasonings of the barrel stave, different grains, all of which will affect the outcome,” says Wheatley. “There really are no limits as long as you are willing to stay within the boundaries of bourbon.”
Paterson is on the same page. “Some young whiskeys can be incredibly high quality, and some older whiskeys may be past their prime… for example, they may take on too much influence from the cask, or too little effect when matured in overused casks. [Scotch whiskies aren’t limited to a single use like bourbon]. “Cask quality is the biggest determining factor of quality.”
If you're not sure what to drink anymore than you were a few minutes ago, the good news is that you have a blank slate. Grab the whiskeys you love and see what they have in common. Use this to find new favorites. Explore the wide world of whiskey without any baggage.
You may find something incredible that you've never tried before. And no matter how keen you are on whiskey, it's never too late to start over. Remember: Sometimes age is just a number.
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