Quote:
Originally Posted by Maynard
This is a circular phenomenon - older casks inherently cost more: they sit around costing overhead, while losing volume over time. But then the marketing/'snob factor' takes it out of the realm of simple accounting and blows it up. Age statements or debating the quality of ingredients around ANY blends is comical, since the real elite market is for rare single malts (add a few zero's to the rarest JW has ever sold). Just like with wines, some of those old casks are really only fit for cleaning solution. Blending is an art, and one that is sadly disrespected these days = it used to be that the blends were the high-class drink, and single malts were for the poor yokels who couldn't afford the refined stuff. In truth, even the single malts are usually a form of blend, in that they select casks to maintain a consistent flavor profile, even if choosing among barrels from the same batch.
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Great post. The 'Single' in Single Malt means it comes from
one distillery. Unless the bottle says cask strength or single barrel, it is 99% likely that it is 'blended' between that distillers casks exactly for the reason you stated. To maintain a consistent flavor profile.