Part 2 - Whisky buying guide. Words that matter and words to avoid.
This is the second part of a series that talks about the different words you see on a whisky label and figuring out which ones matter and which ones to avoid. This series is not for the whisky "experts" or the self proclaimed "connoisseurs". This post is for the beginners and hopes to give them a basic understanding of words on labels so they can make better purchase decisions as they explore the world of whisky. If you are not a beginner, then I suggest you stop reading here.
Age statement
When I started my journey into whisky, a lot of people told me that older whiskies are better and to always look for the age statement on the bottle when making my purchase decision. These people insisted that older whiskies are better and told me to trust them because they are whisky connoisseurs. I took their advice, went to the liquor store only to realize that age statements on bottles are not that common any more. Yes, there are still age stated whiskies but more whiskies are coming out non-age stated. This trend in removing age statements is starting to get more and more common these days and is fuelling a controversial debate on whether or not "older is always better". To understand the question on whether older is always better, one has to understand what the age statement is telling you.
As you meet more people in the whisky community, chances are you will meet some douche-bag who will tell you that if you are not drinking cask strength or barrel proof whiskies you are weak. So what do they mean by Cask Strength or Barrel Proof? A cask strength whisky, in its most basic meaning, is a whisky bottled at its original alcoholic strength after maturation. This means no water was added to dilute the whisky before it was bottled. These whiskies are mostly high proof (usually between 120 proof - 130 proof).
There are some common misconceptions about cask strength / barrel proof whiskies that I want to talk about. A lot of people will say they like cask strength because you get to taste the whisky in its purest form without the influence of water. This misconception comes from the idea that alcoholic strength equals more flavour concentration. Sometimes the alcohol level can overpower the palate that you don't taste anything but alcohol. It is also not accurate to say that Cask strength or Barrel proof whiskies have not been "watered down" by water at all. Bourbon's need to enter the barrel for maturation at no more than 125 proof but the un-aged American whisky that comes out of the still is almost always higher than 125 proof so they actually dilute the American whisky before it goes into the barrel for aging. Scotch does not have a regulated barrel entry proof so it is possible that the only time water was ever used in a Cask Strength Scotch whisky was in the fermentation process. Some people also confuse Cask Strength / Barrel proof as meaning the whisky came from a single cask / barrel. Cask strength / Barrel proof whiskies are not necessarily single barrels. A distillery can dump 20 barrels into a batch, not add water to reduce the strength and can still call it Cask strength. Now you are tasting the purest form of a batched whisky.
So is Cask strength / Barrel proof always good? The answer is complicated. If you are a beginner I would caution you to enter this realm with a lot of caution. Be ready for your nose and palate to burn. If you do feel like you are ready to try Cask strength / Barrel proof whiskies, be sure to have water on hand. To me, the best way to enter into this realm is to not be shy about adding water into your whisky. What I like most about Cask strength / Barrel proof whiskies is the fact that you are able to control your experience with the whisky. When drinking Cask strength / Barrel proof, try to find the right amount of water for your palate. You can try it with a lot of water first (even with ice), then slowly work your way up by reducing the amount of water the next time you try it. You will never understand Cask Strength / Barrel proof whiskies on your first or second try. But give it a chance. Experimenting with Cask Strength / Barrel proof and water dilution is the best way for you to discover the complexity of flavours in whisky. Always remember that water opens up these beasts. It is just a matter of you finding that sweet spot.
Age statement
When I started my journey into whisky, a lot of people told me that older whiskies are better and to always look for the age statement on the bottle when making my purchase decision. These people insisted that older whiskies are better and told me to trust them because they are whisky connoisseurs. I took their advice, went to the liquor store only to realize that age statements on bottles are not that common any more. Yes, there are still age stated whiskies but more whiskies are coming out non-age stated. This trend in removing age statements is starting to get more and more common these days and is fuelling a controversial debate on whether or not "older is always better". To understand the question on whether older is always better, one has to understand what the age statement is telling you.
As a beginner, I thought the age statement represented the age of every drop of whisky in the bottle. I was wrong. The age statement is the age of the youngest whisky in the bottle. This rule is very important, and to me, is the key to answer the question on whether older is always better. Say you have a batch of 20 year old whisky that tastes ok. It is not great but it is not bad either. It is past its peak and is slowly developing some undesirable characters. The advise given to you is to blend the 20 year old with some younger whiskies to balance out the flavours. You took the advise and blended your 20 year old whisky with a small amount (5%) 5 year old whisky. The resulting product is beautiful. Definitely better than the 20 year old on its own. Now you have a choice. Release the 20 year old on its own with the 20 year old age statement or release the blend as a 5 year old? In this case it makes more sense, taste wise and money wise, for you to release the blend. You are then faced with another choice: release it as non-age stated whisky or a 5 year age-stated whisky? Today most distillers would rather release it as non-age stated because of the stigma that a lot of these whisky snobs have placed on non-age stated products. My point is that the age statement is not a guarantee of quality because the number 5 in a 5yr age stated whisky does not represent the age of the entire batch in the bottle. To say a 5 year old whisky will always be inferior to a 10 year old whisky is ridiculous. Take the age statement for what it truly means and do your own research on what is in the batch.
Proof / ABV
Every bottle of whisky is required to carry a statement about its alcohol content. Most whiskies around the world are labeled with the Alcohol by Volume (ABV) while American whiskies use the proof system which is basically just the ABV x 2. So a whisky that has 40% Alcohol by Volume is an 80 proof whisky.
The term ABV is kind of self-explanatory but the word Proof has an interesting back story to it. Distilled spirits have always been a big source of revenue for governments around the world and a lot of them levied higher taxes on spirits with higher alcohol content. The government then needed a way to check if alcohol content of the spirit distilled in order for them to collect the appropriate amount of tax. They discovered early on that gun powder, when soaked in alcohol, does not burn if the alcohol by volume is below a certain amount (57.15%). All the tax man had to do was pour whisky over gun powder and try to burn it. If it caught fire then it was proof that the spirit had to be taxed even more, if it did not catch fire then it was considered under 100 proof and did not pay any extra tax.
So what proof or ABV level should you be looking for in a bottle? It depends on your palate. If you are new to whisky then I suggest starting with 40% ABV (80 proof) to 45% ABV (90 proof). Also do not hesitate to add water to your drink. It is normal for you to only taste the alcohol and burn and none of the nuanced flavours. Start with lower proofs to get your palate used to the high alcohol content. Once you develop some tolerance, that's when you can start exploring the 50% (ABV) 100 proof or higher. My approach was to take it slow and take my time. I did not rush into the higher proofs because when I did it burned my palate and made me hate whisky.
Single Barrel
Not many people realize that the whisky they buy in the liquor store are blends of whiskies from different barrels, distilled at different dates and aged in different conditions. This is not necessarily bad as it allows the distillery to focus on a taste profile and blending whiskies from different barrels allow them to maintain a consistent taste and quality in each bottle released.
Some bottles however carry the word Single Barrel. What does this mean? Whenever you see the word Single Barrel, it means the whisky in that bottle came from one barrel or cask. What makes this label valuable is that the whisky you get is unique to the barrel it came from. That means if you get two bottles of the same brand coming from two different barrels, these two whiskies will taste different. That is what makes Single Barrel whiskies unique and fun to try. I am not saying they will always be good. Sometimes you get a crappy barrel but sometimes you get something special.
This hit and miss aspect of Single Barrels is exciting to some people but could be a big risk to most beginners. A lot of these single barrel whiskies are usually in the mid to top price range and spending that much money for something that may be bad whisky might be too much for a beginner.
This hit and miss aspect of Single Barrels is exciting to some people but could be a big risk to most beginners. A lot of these single barrel whiskies are usually in the mid to top price range and spending that much money for something that may be bad whisky might be too much for a beginner.
Cask Strength / Barrel Proof
As you meet more people in the whisky community, chances are you will meet some douche-bag who will tell you that if you are not drinking cask strength or barrel proof whiskies you are weak. So what do they mean by Cask Strength or Barrel Proof? A cask strength whisky, in its most basic meaning, is a whisky bottled at its original alcoholic strength after maturation. This means no water was added to dilute the whisky before it was bottled. These whiskies are mostly high proof (usually between 120 proof - 130 proof).There are some common misconceptions about cask strength / barrel proof whiskies that I want to talk about. A lot of people will say they like cask strength because you get to taste the whisky in its purest form without the influence of water. This misconception comes from the idea that alcoholic strength equals more flavour concentration. Sometimes the alcohol level can overpower the palate that you don't taste anything but alcohol. It is also not accurate to say that Cask strength or Barrel proof whiskies have not been "watered down" by water at all. Bourbon's need to enter the barrel for maturation at no more than 125 proof but the un-aged American whisky that comes out of the still is almost always higher than 125 proof so they actually dilute the American whisky before it goes into the barrel for aging. Scotch does not have a regulated barrel entry proof so it is possible that the only time water was ever used in a Cask Strength Scotch whisky was in the fermentation process. Some people also confuse Cask Strength / Barrel proof as meaning the whisky came from a single cask / barrel. Cask strength / Barrel proof whiskies are not necessarily single barrels. A distillery can dump 20 barrels into a batch, not add water to reduce the strength and can still call it Cask strength. Now you are tasting the purest form of a batched whisky.
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