A question regarding single barrel whiskey

[Wurm]

Being a noob regarding whiskey I'm going to take a flying guess at something to see if I'm right.

Blanton's is all single barrel so I am thinking the more expensive and higher alcohol content single barrels are due to age. Am I correct about this or is there other factors involved?

But if this is the case why do they bottle younger whiskey? Is it done only to increase the profit margin or do they open barrels to see how the whiskey is aging and take some of it out to sell?

I know that air is bad for most alcohol products (hence refilling open wine into smaller bottles) but can whiskey spoil?

BTW the Blanton's gold is noticeably better than the special reserve, its not a big difference but you notice it.

 

[Neuromancer]

I drink Blanton's...as far as I know the single barrel stuff is aged longer for one thing, and usually is much smoother than the cheaper stuff that's not aged for long regardless of alcohol content...again, as far as I know whisky doesn't spoil but I could be wrong on that one...we have a bottle of Bacardi 151, that's been around for about 5 years and I just tasted it the other night and it seemed fine...wine goes bad pretty quickly and it is from air, however most wine stores sell an item (I forget the name) that has rubber stoppers with a split in them, and it pulls the air out of the wine bottle leaving it mostly vacuum, and this will give a bottle of wine that you don't finish a few more days...enjoy the Blanton's...

 

[MichaelPCo]

I've worked in distilleries all my adult life. Currently for William Grant & Sons, and formerly for Laird & Company. I worked at Lairds when it was owned by Hiram Walker, and during that period, dumped tens of thousands of barrels of whiskey for their products. They had 3 barrel warehouses with a capacity for 7,000 barrels.

The longer a barrel sits/ages in the warehouse, the more it occupies "space", and the more liquid it loses through evaporation, hence increasing it's costs.
The younger barrels naturally cost less and bear more liquid, but aren't as flavorful, therefore commanding a lower retail value.

No, whiskey does not go bad. Over a period of time, particularly when exposed to extreme temperature fluctuations, you may get some separation of flaking, but nothing that would be harmful or affect the taste. Depending on the seal of the bottle, you may get some evaporation of which the alcohol will evaporate 1st, lowering the proof. Cordials and wines will go bad.

I hope this answered your questions.

Michael

 

[AVB]

Just to add, the makers are taxed on the proof of the product so something that is "Barrel Proof" costs them more to make. Strangely, bourbon gets stronger in the barrel while scotch tends to get weaker. One of the reasons is that bourbon HAS to be barreled in new oak which absorbs water at a faster rate then the alcohol evaporates making the proof higher while scotch is mostly barreled in used casks so more alcohol is lost by volume.

 

[Wurm]

Thanks for the answers gentlemen :thumbs: