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10 YEAR OLDS or Younger! Is anybody with me?

 
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Ardy
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:02 am    Post subject: 10 YEAR OLDS or Younger! Is anybody with me? Reply with quote

Im a serious drinker and committed to old world wine and old world scotch. For generations my family has been blessed with this gift. Cool
now cut the shit.
i know my drink. and my palate says bring me 10 year olds only or younger ONLY!
okay,okay, i get it. nice mature oak and this and that. im not buying. this is masking and stream lining scotch untill it looses its backbone and slappiness and genuine signature of creator.
REAL SCOTCH SIGNATURE, lies in its youth stages. Can be accurately appreciated and feel alive!
Yes complex and deep is great but only to gander and glimps at the future BUT LIVE in the NOW boyz and girls!
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Vcdman
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

what a good topic.

In one sense i agree that drinking young whisky is a true evaluation of the whisky characteristics, as not to much oak (and previously used barrel) influence affect the final product.
And to support that argument there are some nice whiskys 10 years and under.
Also some more mature whiskys pehaps have aged a bit to long...

However, aging whisky in wood is part of the process and thus charachteristics from the wood is certainly allowed in my dram, and to be honest i know more whiskys over ten years that i enjoy rather than under ten years.
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Charlie
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 6:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There are a few interesting young whiskies out there and there seems to be a bit of a trend recently to release young versions of quite a few malts i do find them interesting but i would say i will always prefer 10 years plus malts but i can like or dislike any malt of any age i just enjoy the variety of them all.

And welcome to the forum Vcdman

Charlie
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Ardy
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the comment.
Yes, i need to agree, that great scotch requires wood and time.
My recent preferences for young scotch is by design.
Its safe to conclude that a minimum of Ten years gives enough to at least fully understand and identity and a destiny and balance.
Further, enjoying a young scotch is rather a disciplinary attitude and prelude to fully embrace and love a well aged single malt, approached with true respect! Not because of its profile alone or to avoid ignorance, as i may be to many. Rest assure, i will discover.
I look forward to my journey. I have had a few old single malts that gave me an extra layer of skin, thicker hair and infused my skull with sensations of harmony!

Okay, that was intense! lol!

Cheers Cool
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Islay Pete
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 1:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have to say the charachteristics imparted in whisky by aging it in different woods/casks over the years is certainly the reason i enjoy whisky so much.

The aging process of using different woods/casks and varying the time in the casks produces so many wonderful and different whiskies even from the same distillery. Scotch whisky would not be what is is without these influences on the whisky. Yes it is interesting to taste young whisky which has not been in a barrel long enough to have its taste altered very much but i would rather have the whisky which has been influenced by the master distillers choice of barrel and length of time in the barrel.

Pete
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Ardy
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 11:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Totally hear you. With respect i say you are not wrong and makes sense to experience mastery and pushing limits and playing with time and techniques for extra depth. Ive had some 15 year plus, very few 21 or so and have blown me away.

I guess the only thing i can add and be loyal to my statements is: i respect and love old scotch, but it needs to have some substantial aging like: 15 years plus for me to really have an impression or get excited. Even then, i like to savour and sip that priceless gold!

However, i still prefer MORE FREQUENT A SLAPPY YOUNG SCOTCH WITH LIVE CHARACTER and gives me satisfaction, especially pale and peaty ones. Not many agree, this why im voicing my thaughts!!!
Maybee i will change or evolve?
I have over 50+ singlemalt collection. Small but better than some of the mainstream i find in my local retail.
My Favourites: ARDBEG 10 years, Bruickladdich 3d3 and some others, OF COURSE Laphroig 10 years. (mind you the 'quarter cask' supports some of your theories and gorgeous!) But still fun to discover new gems and small distillers stc..
This is what i love, we can all enjoy a beautiful DRAM of a common spirit and have very different approach or behaviour!
Thanks for your comments.
Now i know im truly alone in young singlemalts, guess i better drink more of them, so i can get tired and start buying some older beaties and see what im missing.

Cheers folks,

Ardy Cool
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Calder
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 3:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In my experience i have found most whisky peaks around 18 to 21 years after that the whisky is still very good but what you are paying more for is the rarity of the whisky. Having said that i have read about some superb older whiskies but they are way out of my price range for example Black Bowmore is a whisky i shall only read about.

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Keith
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I saw this in the Scotsman and thought it may be of interest to you in this thread:

Quote:
Four-year-old whisky comes of age

Traditionalists may not like it, but it's a case of young whisky galore.
Distilleries are bringing out a new range of youthful malts in a bid to attract a younger generation of drinkers.

Advances in the technology used to make whisky mean that the world-famous water of life can be matured faster and sold earlier.

Though the consensus among experts until recently has been that malts matured for less than 10 years were not of high enough quality, some distilleries are now bringing out products as young as four years.

Ardbeg distillery on Islay has already sold thousands of bottles from its range of Very Young (six years) at £28, Still Young (eight) at £29.99 and Almost There (nine) at £29.99, with names deliberately targeted at a younger audience. But some distilleries and independent bottlers, such as Glen Garioch, are bringing out versions for less than £20.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, the country's leading authority on malts, has been so impressed by some of the new products that it is considering a special tasting for members.

Marketing manager Kai Ivalo said: "Various distilleries have been doing this with great success. There's clearly an interest in young whiskies because they have this real vibrancy. You say to someone at the bar 'Try that, it's five years old' and they look at you in a slightly strange way. When they have tasted it they go 'Wow, that's quite interesting. I'll have some of that'."

One of the reasons for the new breed of young whiskies is the distilleries brought out of mothballs by new management in the late 1990s as global demand for malt whisky grew again.

The Isle of Arran distillery in Lochranza put its first 'bottling' on the market after only five years. Managing director Euan Mitchell said: "People were very surprised at the quality. Most have been led to believe that malt whisky must be 12 years or older, whereas the truth is that well-made whisky matured in good casks can be very good at an early age.

"While I am not denouncing older whiskies, younger ones have a nice freshness to them, not too much oak hiding the distillery character, just very clean fresh whiskies. People are surprised about the quality."

For Isle of Arran, a new business, putting out its product as soon as possible was a commercial necessity to bring in revenue. "But it's not just us," Mitchell said. "Other distilleries are doing it as well. A lot of distilleries were mothballed in the '80s and '90s and now new owners have come along and put out young releases of their malt. People are overcoming this snobbery about age.

"Our distillery managers took a decision that the whisky was of sufficient quality that we could sell it. If it hadn't been good enough it could have done serious damage to our reputation.

"We have done a small batch of peated Arran and released four-year-old casks and it has got a great reception."

Jackie Thomson, spokeswoman for the Ardbeg distillery on Islay, said: "Ten years ago, young whiskies were drunk behind closed doors. The idea behind our young bottlings was that there were all these preconceptions around whiskies having to be a certain age and we stepped outside of that."

Thomson believes young malts will sell well to younger drinkers tempted to try them for the first time.

"Younger northern Europeans like the idea of drinking something so young yet so powerful," she said. The industry had to try new methods of attracting new whisky drinkers, she added. "Within the past 10 years, there has been an acceptance in the industry that you can ruffle feathers a bit and the consumers like it."

Experimentation with smaller wooden casks, which allow the spirit to mature faster, has led to improved quality in young malts. Many have traditionally been left at least 10 years to mature, which raises costs because of lengthy warehousing and loss of liquid through evaporation - the so-called 'Angel's Share'.

Ten to 12-year-old malts normally retail at between £25 and £35 a bottle, and older versions attract much bigger premium prices. Younger malts are usually slightly cheaper, reflecting the reduced production costs, although some limited editions have been more expensive than some mass-produced malts.

Whisky expert Keir Sword, owner of the Royal Mile Whiskies, said: "They are a little bit cheaper but you have to remember that the actual liquid is only a small part of the cost.

"The main thing is that young malts, especially the peaty ones, are getting better."

The rise in global demand for malts, especially in the Far East and India, means distilleries will struggle to keep up with demand and be forced to put ever-younger spirits on the market. Whisky sales in China have rocketed by about 75% over the past three years, while India has seen a 36% surge in the same period.

Richard Joynson, who runs Loch Fyne Whiskies, said: "As demand grows you will see the 12-year-old whiskies go up in price as they get rarer, and their place in the £20-£30 market taken by the eight to 10-year-olds. Younger whiskies are here to stay."

I am not so sure everthing in the article is accurate but i thought it made an interesting read anyway. I get the feeling some of it was written pre credit crunch although it only appeared in the Scotsman online on the 19th April 2009.

I dont believe the young Ardbeg range was aimed at a young market or was purchased by a young market i think it would have been purchased by its extensive loyal customer base.

Keith
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Calder
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Traditionalists may not like it, but it's a case of young whisky galore.
Distilleries are bringing out a new range of youthful malts in a bid to attract a younger generation of drinkers.
I don't think this is the case at all, more like the distilleries are trying to make profit now rather than guess the market demand in 12 years time and hoping they have got it right.

Calder
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dodgydrammer
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Exactly. I saw this article and blogged about it at Whisky Party (http://uisge.*/), but basically I think its not specifically younger drinkers that are interested in younger whiskies. There is an overall increase in appreciation of whisky (granted, among a new, but not necessarily young, generation of whisky drinkers).

1. whisky is more popular overall nowadays, and since the response-time of the industry to trends is considerable (eg, Laphroaig just now released its response to the ca. 1990 popularity of the Macallan 18), having a ready supply of whisky is critical while the whisky boom lasts.
2. more people are more familiar with whisky and whisky appreciation; whereas folks used to judge a whisky by its age (due to lack of understanding, often), now the informed whisky consumer knows that age is not the determining factor of a whisky's quality.
3. And yes, more care is being put into younger whiskies than might have been a long time ago (Quatercask, Ardmore Traditional Cask, etc). Wood has been much more carefully considered over the past half-century, enough that distilleries are realizing that just a few years is enough to round out the spirit in the right kind of cask.

shameless plug: check out the blog if you have a chance; we've started reviewing all kinds of stuff, including indies and other rareties. comments and counterpoints welcome.
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