Age vs No Age Statement Whiskeys

We see them all the time sitting side by side on the shelf—a Laphroaig 10-year-old sitting by a Laphroaig Cask Strength, or a Talisker 18 next to a Talisker Storm.

What is an age statement, and why the fuss?

Historically, age was equated with quality, especially for Scotch whiskies. Anything under ten years old was considered passé. Now, when you walk the aisles of your favorite liquor store, there are a multitude of Scotch whiskies without an age statement. The questions arise: Why? and Are any of them good?

Here is the “Why”

With the turn of the century, drinking habits began changing. There were more people drinking whiskey in Europe and the U.S.--and more women! NPR reported that before 2000, only 15 percent of whiskey drinkers were women; by 2014, it had more than doubled to over 35 percent. Then, as the millennials grew up, they expanded their exploration to whiskey and spurred the growth of the cocktail culture. In fact, millennials are directly responsible for pushing Bourbon sales in the U.S. up more than 8 percent from 2017-2018.

The increase in consumption led to a decrease in stock. In Scotland, year-over-year declines in single malt scotches age 11 and up averaged 6 percent between 2010 and 2014. Distillers didn't have a crystal ball, and they were running out of their top-shelf product.

Orson Wells famously said, "I shall drink no wine before its time." And legally, age can't be faked.

A bottle of Scotch whisky with an age statement of 30 years is at least thirty years old. According to Scotch law, the age statement is equivalent to the age of the youngest used whisky. NAS (No Age Statement) whiskies, by law, have to be at least three years old. Stepping up production was easy; magically aging their spirits, impossible.

Production could increase, but with a market reliant on age statements as a measure of worth, how would they market and sell NAS whiskies?

Stock constraints drove innovation.

Consistency is essential in age-statement whiskeys. The bottle of Macallan 10 you drank yesterday should taste like the one you had five years ago. With NAS whiskies, distillers, no longer shackled by age, could now innovate.

An increase in production allowed distillers to blend older and younger barrels. It encouraged playing with new combinations, and even--in the case of Talisker Storm--possibly recreating something lost. One enthusiast noted Storm that tasted like the Talisker 10 of thirty years ago--something he'd missed as Talisker 10 evolved away from its roots.

In addition to blending different aged barrels, distilleries pushed the boundaries, creating scotches with high levels of peat--like Ardbeg's Supernova and Bruichladdich's Octomore series. The Octomore whiskies gave new meaning to peated scotch. Their Octomore 6.3 with its 258ppm of peat is a heady experience, not for the faint of heart. (As a comparison, Laphroaig 10, usually considered a peaty scotch, ranges from 5-20ppm.)

Other distillers experimented with altering their whiskies' flavor structure by finishing them in different types of casks. The maturing process, traditionally using white oak bourbon casks for the full process, was cut short. Sprits were finished off using wine, port, or sherry casks.

For some, one finish wasn't enough.

Auchentoshan's Three Wood Single Malt Scotch Whisky adds two finishes to the traditional maturation process. Starting with the traditional American Bourbon Oak Cask, they then moved the whisky to Spanish Oloroso Sherry and finished it off with Pedro Ximenez Sherry casks. The process creates a golden-brown whiskey with a fruit and butterscotch flavor complex, smelling of blackcurrants and brown sugar, its finish tinged with oak.

Some No Age Statement whiskies are stellar:

Here are some of the best to try:

• Glenmorangie Signet - Highland, American white oak barrels.
• Aberlour A'bunagh - Speyside, Spanish Oloroso sherry butts
• Ardbeg Corryvreckan - Islay
• The Macallan Rare Cask - Highland, First fill sherry oak casks
• The Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve - Highland

Next door, on the Emerald Isle, distiller Tullamore D.E.W. looked at the past and came up with apples. Ireland was once one of the world's largest producers of apples. Working with a small-batch cider maker to supply casks for them, Tullamore developed their Limited Edition Cider Cask Finish. Since cider is seasonal, so is their Cider Cask Whiskey.

In the U.S., the lack of an age statement on whiskey is more common. Bourbon whiskeys only display an age statement if the whiskey used is under four years old. Like scotch, a blended Bourbon's age statement must reflect the age of the youngest Bourbon used. Most Bourbons must be aged two years, although, if you slap the name Kentucky on it, it can be as young as one.

Bonded whiskeys or bottled-in-bond (BIB) are aged at least four years, but can't be older than twenty. They must be bottled from whiskey barreled in the same calendar year, an even stricter requirement than Scotland's single malt rules. The single malt label only requires that all the barrels come from the same distilleries.

Some of the best NAS Bourbon whiskeys you might want to try:

• Old Grand-Dad Bonded Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 50% A.B.V. - if you are feeling up to it, there is also a 114 proof (57% A.B.V.) version.
• I.W. Harper Kentucky Trail Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 41% A.B.V.
• Larceny Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 46% A.B.V.

With age statements less in play, many bourbon distillers chose a different path, recreating old recipes. Like 1776--a line of rye and bourbon whiskeys which harken back to the 19th-century distiller James E. Pepper and his grandfather's original Revolutionary-era recipes.

Age vs. No Age is a bit of a toss-up.

Drinking lets you experience time in many ways. There is something delightful in drinking a whiskey barreled before your kids were born. Then there is time travel of a different sort, with the rye and bourbon movement to unearth old distilleries and recipes. Then there is all the new--from cask finishes to peat explosions, the new whiskeys prove the pleasure of pushing boundaries.

Whichever you choose, Cheers!

Want to know more? Check out our Guide to Scotch, Scotch for Beginners, or Rye vs Bourbon,

Have a favorite cask-finished whiskey? Let us know in the comments!

Love us? Follow us! Subscribe to our blog or Instagram @prestigedecanters and get more recipes, reviews, and recommendations.