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age for too long though, and bitter and astringent
oak tannins will overpower more delicate f lavors.
New barrels have a higher concentration of f la-
voring solids than barrels that have already been
used to age sherry or another whiskey. As a result,
bourbon or the growing number of other whiskies
aged in new barrels need less time to develop the
rich, woody f lavors that distillers are after.
Maturation is also dependent on the location
of the aging warehouse and even a barrel’s loca-
tion within that warehouse. Climates with greater
temperature variations will produce complex whis-
kies faster than ones with more consistent weather.
As important as these variables are, it’s eas-
ier for companies to sum up this process in an age
statement that, in the past, served as an assurance
of quality. Now that distilleries are more reliant
on scientific processes and as information about
those processes has proliferated among consum-
ers, these labels don’t carry the same weight. (And
in the case of blended whiskies, they never told the
full story. The age on a label refers to the youngest
expression in the mix.) It’s become more common
for distilleries to not print ages on some bottles.
Still, different types of whiskies can mature
at disparate rates, and that can be useful as you
browse your local liquor store. Although there
are exceptions, rye can develop greater complex-
ity faster than bourbon, and bourbon faster than
Scotch, Irish whiskey, and Canadian whisky. A Jap-
anese whisky aged in mizunara oak, or Q. crispula,
also takes longer to tease out the desired coconut
and sandalwood notes from the wood.
If a competitive price is most important,choose something younger. Older whiskies
cost more because distilleries want to recoup
the investment they made in the long produc-
tion time. The higher price also accounts for the
greater amount of whiskey that’s inadvertently
evaporated out of the barrels in what’s known as
the angel’s share. Depending on the climate, the
volume within each barrel decreases by about 2
percent each year.
“I think the great thing that we’ve seen, espe-
cially across the market—bourbon, Scotch,
Japanese [whisky]—is you can find a quality
product to fit every price point,” says Bill Thomas,
a whiskey collector and the owner of Jack Rose
Dining Saloon. The Washington, D.C., bar and
restaurant has an extensive whiskey collection
with 2,000 or so bottles. “There is a way to get
younger expressions to show with greater depth
and complexity, and that’s by looking at the entire
process,” Thomas says. He points to High Wire
Distilling in Charleston, South Carolina, along
with Willet and Wilderness Trail, both out of
Kentucky, as distilleries that are selecting more
seasoned (read: drier) barrels and filling them
with a lower-proof distillate. The result: younger
whiskies of a noticeably higher quality than oth-
ers of the same age.
Of course, should you choose to invest in an older
premium bottle, you’re likely to be rewarded with a
smooth, layered whiskey that makes a damn fine
nightcap. Just remember to seal your open bottle
with a sheet of paraffin wax between pours to pre-
vent any evaporation. There’s no sense in letting
one drop go to waste.In 2013, Cleveland
Whiskey made
headlines for making
bourbon in six days.
The first expression
to reach consumers
actually took about six
months from start to
finish—still, a veritable
sprint compared to the
traditional technique.
Cleveland Whiskey’s
secret is a pressurized
rapid “aging” methodthat CEO Tom Lix
began developing in- The produc-
tion includes three
months to three years
in oak barrels plus
the finishing process,
which takes about a
day. Inside stainless
steel tanks, variations
in pressure force the
bourbon in and out
of finishing woods to
quickly extract flavors
from black cherry,
maple, or apple—woods
that would not make
good aging barrels.
Lix’s team isn’t
alone. Los Angeles’s
Lost Spirits relies on
light and heat to speed
natural chemical reac-
tions. Other distilleries
favor sonic aging,
where loud bass-heavy
music is supposed to
speed up maturation.Skeptics of these
production methods
abound, but Lix isn’t
deterred. The way
he sees it, the hype
around older bourbon
is fueled by marketing
and the reality that
there hadn’t been a
faster way to make it
until more recently.
“The metrics are
changing,” he says. “All
that matters is taste.”HACKING THE WHISKEY
AGING PROCESS