Whisky Myths Examined – Whisky of a Different Era Tastes Better – Or Does it?
This week coming sees the start of an occasional series in which I start to turn my attention onto one thing that has been niggling me a wee bit. Each person has their own opinion on this matter and I am no different, yet I feel with a building collection of miniatures that I need to get rid of, it is time to investigate this potential myth a little bit closer. Do whiskies of a different era taste any better?
This is a subject that could open a whole new carton of worms, as everybody will be adamant in their own belief whether or not this will be the case. I’m sort of already convinced I know the answer, and I believe the myth is true but this is based on my experience of the old style Macallan versus the newer releases. I’ve also been tasting more whiskies from a different era on account of purchasing a few whiskies from Cheaper By The Dram, the company that enables you to be able to drink whisky from the bottles of a different era that would otherwise be unobtainable due to high auction or retail values.
Let’s be up front. This series will not be strictly scientific. As far as possible I have chosen to compare whiskies from individual distilleries with the same age statement and cask types. However in some cases there has been a need to compare a 12 year old from the 90’s to a 10 year old of the up to date version; but I have checked they use the same cask types. I’ve made sure that I’m not just comparing varying batches; there will be at least a 10 year gap between the releases to help assess if there is a significant difference between the two.
As far as possible I have tried to get at least one sample from every region and to vary the styles a little. I feel I don’t have to keep you in suspense and I can reveal the distilleries I am reviewing in a list below. The list may get added to if I am able to source other samples but as of the end of September I currently held pairs of whiskies of differing eras of
Springbank, Glendronach, Glenfarclas, Glenfiddich, Macallan, Bruichladdich, Auchentoshan, Clynelish, Auchroisk, Highland Park, Glengoyne and Glen Keith.
My aim is to do 2 comparison reviews a month, so I can continue to review contemporary whiskies, but this will depend very much on my work schedule. However if I have no article for a weekend, a whisky challenge may be in its place.
I’m pretty excited about this. My first review will be released this following Wednesday, it’s already written and I can’t wait to share this with you. Of course, I’d love to hear your views on this matter or responses to my review, on any of the social media platforms I use – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or even a comment directly on the blog. Maybe you have whisky you could do this with as well? I’d be interested to hear your experiences in the matter.
Yours in Spirits
Scotty
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Scotty’s Drams 
Interesting topic. I did this once with The Macallan 12yo Sherry Oak. I tasted a sample from the 90s back to back with my current bottle. I think I found the 90s bottling a tad more intense and striking – but in essence, they were both outstanding! I also have samples of Cardhu 12yo from different areas here (70s vs. contemporary). But I haven’t sipped these yet.
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A Macallan old style (1990’s) 10 year old sherry oak was the catalyst for this thought. I got a sample from a retailer which I tasted at the same time as samples of the 10 yo double oak and 15 year old triple oak. The 1990’s whisky blew the other two away. I’ve also got an old Cardhu I scored cheaply at auction from the 80’s. Will be easy enough to get the modern equivalent. Am currently offshore and only managed to do three comparisons before I left. Trying to space them out in amongst the other reviews I’ve done. We’ll see what happens to the final result. It’s not that scientific and based only on my palate, so it is entirely subjective but if others try the same thing there maybe a consensus of opinion.
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