The age of whisky has always been significant and a subject of numerous disputes and discussions. Today's article is not to say which ages are best for the spirit, but to clarify and enrich your knowledge.
The years on the label indicate the minimum aging period of the spirit in the cask. In the cask, not in the bottle! We remind you of this because questions have been asked whether the aging period in the bottle also counts, and the answer is a firm NO!
If we see a label indicating 12-year-old whisky, it is very likely that the spirit contains 13, 15, or even older distillates, but never younger than the indicated age. Doubts often arise as to whether the aging years described on the label are truly accurate, and the answer is a firm YES! The stakes are too high to mislead the consumer, and the rules, laws, and control are more than serious.
In recent years, there has been a trend for whiskies to not have an age statement on the label, or so-called NAS (No Age Statement) whiskies. These are whiskies that we will not classify as better or worse than others, because they are part of the whisky reality. The main reason for the proliferation of whiskies without age statements on the label is the huge global demand (mainly from Asia), which leads to the depletion of age-stated whiskies. 10-15 years ago, no one imagined that the distillates laid down in casks would not be enough. At this point, marketing steps in, inventing a new series or approach, and together with the brand's master blender, offers an NAS variation to the market. Many well-known brands have adopted a similar approach, but the most memorable for me is The Macallan's 1824 series – Gold, Amber, Sienna, and Ruby, which had no age statement on the label and replaced the discontinued Fine Oak age-stated series. A few years later, the age-stated whisky series returned, because they now had age-stated distillates and brought back the Fine Oak variations of their 12, 15, and 18-year-old delights.
If there's a hint of bitterness in us, the consumers, in recent years, it's that the price of NAS varieties was not dramatically lower, and sometimes even the same as age-stated ones. They were designated with memorable names: Special Release, Master Blender Series, Distiller's Edition. In the last 3-4 years, Single Cask variations from just one cask have also appeared on the market. To our delight, we also have distillates bottled exclusively for our market, similar to: Highland Park Single Cask Bulgaria, Arran Bulgaria, Kilchoman Bulgaria, Big Peat Sofia Edition, which offered fans whiskies without an age statement, but with very different ABVs (mostly over 50%), diverse casks, and this led not only to consuming the liquid but also to collecting it.
Finally, I will mention that I have had the opportunity to try quite old distillates, such as 65-year-old Glen Grant, 60-year-old Glenlivet, several 50-year-old variants from other brands, but I was not terribly impressed by them. When I mentioned this to an old Irish friend of mine, he replied: "Aged whiskies for aged connoisseurs." Sometimes youth prevents us from appreciating old whiskies properly, but let's not put barriers with the years on the label, but rather taste and appreciate whisky for its liquid soul, not for its shiny attire.
Various age-stated whiskies from all over the world can be found on the website www.vida.bg or at the whisky bar Caldo.
