Say you’re looking to pick out the right bottle of whiskey for a special occasion, and you hold two bottles in your hands. One says “15 Years Old Whiskey” and the other says “20 Years Old Whiskey”. The first bottle is priced at $150, and the second bottle is priced at $350. Why is the second whiskey more than twice the price of the first? Is the liquid inside each bottle that much different? What do these “age statements” mean anyway?
If you feel like this could be you, you’re not alone. Whiskey age statements are somewhat opaque, and they can sometimes mean the difference of hundreds (or thousands) of dollars for a bottle. This article will examine what these age statements mean, how they can affect the price of a bottle of whiskey, and why they are important in a whiskey auction. By the end of this article, you will be better equipped to understand these age statements and all of the price factors that go along with them.
Whiskey Age Statements
So, what is a whiskey age statement? A whiskey age statement is how long a whiskey has been aged in a barrel or cask. For instance, an example of an age statement would be Lagavulin Aged 12 Years Scotch Whisky. In this case, Lagavulin is advertising this whisky as being aged 12 years. That seems simple enough, but here’s where it gets complicated.
What an age statement refers to differs by region. In the United States, Ireland, and Scotland, an age statement legally refers to the youngest whiskey in the bottle, not the oldest. Since Lagavulin is produced in Scotland, Lagavulin 12 contains a few Lagavulin whiskies, the youngest being aged for 12 years. An exception to this would be a Scottish or American whiskey marked as “single cask”, meaning that the whiskey is drawn from one cask and not batched with other whiskies. In the United States, there is also the designation “Bottled-in-Bond”, which requires that a whiskey “must be aged for at least four years and bottled at precisely 100 proof (50% abv). It must be made by one distiller at a single distillery in one season, then aged in a bonded warehouse.” (Kate Dingwall, “What are “Bottled-in-Bond” Spirits and Why Should I Care?”, Wine Enthusiast). The result is a completely sourceable, unique whiskey that has no additives and will change slightly in flavor profile year after year.
In addition, whiskies in the United States, Ireland, and Scotland are not legally required to mention age at all (though, in both Scotland and Ireland, a grain spirit must be aged at least three years to be considered “whisky”). This is especially the case with flavored whiskies or specialty blends, where the primary focus is on maintaining a consistent flavor profile. In the United States, this is also why unaged whiskey, or moonshine, is able to be sold as whiskey, though it is not aged.
In terms of age statements, things are a bit more complicated for Canadian whisky. Legally, Canadian whisky is allowed to have up to 9.09% of other ingredients, often a “coloring agent”. However, this 9.09% can also include other spirits, including younger whisky. So, in theory, a distiller can add 10-year-old whisky to a 40-year-old one and claim it to be a 40-year-old Canadian whisky. For context, such a whiskey in Scotland or the United States would legally be a 10-year-old whiskey. In addition, Canadian whisky is also allowed to age for up to six months outside of the cask. This means that a Canadian whisky can be barrel-aged for three years and six months, bottled, kept for six months, and claimed as a 4-year-old whisky. This differs from the U.S., Scotland, and Ireland, where the stated age is entirely dependent on how long the whiskey has aged in the cask. However, like Scotland and Ireland, a grain spirit must age for at least 3 years in a cask to be considered whisky.
Now, why would a distillery batch their whiskies together at all? The reason is uniformity. If you like a certain whiskey, you want that whiskey to always taste the same whenever you drink it. Since no two whiskey casks are entirely the same, the resulting whiskies within will not always taste exactly alike. Rather than bottling products that taste different, many distilleries will batch the whiskies until they meet the flavor profile that consumers have come to expect. Thus, you can get two bottles of Lagavulin 12 produced in different years and they will taste nearly identical.
Whiskies can also legally be labelled with the specific ages of the whiskies in the batch, rather than a straight age statement. These numbers are presented as percentages, for example, “20% – 80 Year Old Whiskey; 80% – 40 Year Old Whiskey”. This is a way to highlight the age of older whiskies in the batch, without claiming the entire bottle has aged that long. While this is possible, it is not very common. Most whiskies will have some sort of age statement in terms of the youngest whiskey in the batch.
Finally, there is one caveat with whiskey age statements that is very important to mention. An age statement does not refer to aging in the bottle, as whiskey and other spirits are considered to have finished aging once they are bottled. This is why whiskies are usually bottled with their age statements proudly displayed rather than a year of production like bottles of wine. There may be changes in the whiskey over many years in a bottle, but these are not accounted for in an age statement.
Whiskey Age Statements and Value
Now that we have discussed whiskey age statements, we can discuss what they mean for the value of a whiskey. Generally speaking, older whiskies are worth more than younger expressions. This is due to two main factors. First, as whiskies age in the storeroom of the distillery, fewer casks remain aging as the distiller bottles their regular production. With fewer casks of old whiskey aging, less of that older whiskey will be available for future bottling. This rarity is increased by the fact that whiskey seeps into the staves of the cask as it ages, leaving less whiskey available in the cask. Thus, older whiskies are scarcer than younger ones.
The second factor is the development of the whiskey’s flavor over time. While one’s taste in whiskey is somewhat subjective, being based on one’s particular palate, older whiskies are considered finer than younger whiskies. This is because the flavors of the whiskey develop in the cask as it ages, with the whiskey taking on more characteristics of the cask wood and mellowing some of the harshness of the alcohol. Thus, older whiskies are generally less harsh and much smoother than younger whiskies, and feature more developed, full flavors and notes.
Thus, we can now see why older whiskies are more valuable than younger whiskies: there are fewer of them available, and they have a more developed and complex flavor overall. In the whiskey market, scarcity and flavor are two of the most important factors in determining the value of a particular bottle. So, if you are faced with two bottles, one marked as aged for 15 years and the other aged for 20 years, you can understand why one may be more valuable than the other.
Whiskey Age Statements and Whiskey Auctions
Building on what we’ve learned so far, we can begin to understand why age statements matter in determining the value of a particular bottle of whiskey. The older a bottle of whiskey is, the rarer it is. It is also considered more complex and flavorful than younger expressions and, thus, worthy of a higher value. Thus, older whiskies can command higher values at auction and draw considerable interest. Unlike in a liquor store, however, whiskies at auction are valued at a range of prices, spanning anywhere between a few dollars and thousands, depending on the rarity of a given bottle. Age statements are a major factor in determining the value of a given bottle at auction.
The final price of a whiskey sold at auction can go above or below the estimated range, depending on the interest of prospective buyers. This makes whiskey auctions quite an exciting event, with the thrill of seeing rare bottles on the block and the anticipation of seeing if a bottle will sell for a record price. While there are a variety of variables that can affect the price of a specific bottle of whiskey, age statements are one relatively sure-fire way of knowing if a particular bottle will sell for a significant price.
If you are interested in learning more about buying or selling whiskey at auction, let us know! Here at Good Bottle Auctions, we are always happy to discuss whiskey with you and help you make a great sale or an excellent buy.
Work Cited:
For more information on whiskey age statements and the legal aspects behind them, check out this PDF from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau: https://www.ttb.gov/system/files/images/pdfs/spirits_bam/chapter8.pdf.
https://www.edinburghwhiskyacademy.com/blogs/definition/whisky-words-age-statement
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._870/section-B.02.020.html
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._870/page-19.html#docCont
https://www.moredramslessdrama.com/2023/07/25/canadian-club-40-42-year-old
https://www.selectclubwhisky.com/canadian-whisky
https://ekocellars.com/product-category/whiskey/irish-whiskey
https://www.wineenthusiast.com/basics/what-is-bottled-in-bond
