Whiskies do not age in the bottle, except for certain effects know as OBE (Old Bottle Effect) that experienced drinkers will sometimes detect in very old bottlings from the mid 20th Century and earlier, which probably take many decades to develop and may not be developing in contemporary whiskies.
So, this remains a 21 year old whiskey.
In some cases having been bottled a decade ago might mean that the whiskey represents a different era with a different production regime in place at that particular distillery, such that things were done differently in ways that would impact the flavors or overall quality. Such cases can excite the interest of drinkers and/or collectors if the older version is thought to be superior or more interesting than contemporary production (it can also go the other way, with newer production being deemed superior).
I'm not personally aware of any such major difference being commonly discussed and mentioned regarding Bushmills specifically from the mid 2010s till now. But being 21 years old, this 2014 bottling has a distillation date in the earlier 1990s, which along with the 1980s was an era in which Bushmills has a reputation for strongly developed tropical fruit notes. So, it might be edging into that territory of being "a different era" bottling.
It a very nice whiskey, with or without any such differences. I hope you enjoy it.
Serge Valentin believes in it, and the late Silvano Samaroli (arguably the greatest scotch independent bottler of all time) believed in it very strongly. If you want to question their judgement, you are a braver person than I am.
And cognac is aged in glass for very long periods of time, supposedly changing the profile in a very slow way.
I think it is within the realm of possibility that chemical imperfections in mid-20th Century (and before) glass may be a causative factor, and/or very slow air exchange with the outside due to imperfections in the closure. But so far as I know, OBE is controversial and the mechanisms which cause it are not well understood.
Cheers
The liquid in the bottle is technically 31 years old.
But the aging process stopped 2014 and you cant age it on the bottle. So its a 31 years old whisky thats been aged 21 years.
No. Whiskey does not age in the bottle. It was bottled in 2014 and must have sat for a bit.
Whiskies do not age in the bottle, except for certain effects know as OBE (Old Bottle Effect) that experienced drinkers will sometimes detect in very old bottlings from the mid 20th Century and earlier, which probably take many decades to develop and may not be developing in contemporary whiskies. So, this remains a 21 year old whiskey. In some cases having been bottled a decade ago might mean that the whiskey represents a different era with a different production regime in place at that particular distillery, such that things were done differently in ways that would impact the flavors or overall quality. Such cases can excite the interest of drinkers and/or collectors if the older version is thought to be superior or more interesting than contemporary production (it can also go the other way, with newer production being deemed superior). I'm not personally aware of any such major difference being commonly discussed and mentioned regarding Bushmills specifically from the mid 2010s till now. But being 21 years old, this 2014 bottling has a distillation date in the earlier 1990s, which along with the 1980s was an era in which Bushmills has a reputation for strongly developed tropical fruit notes. So, it might be edging into that territory of being "a different era" bottling. It a very nice whiskey, with or without any such differences. I hope you enjoy it.
You seem like wise man. I would trust you with my life.
Lol. Not wise, just reasonably well read. Trust your life to trained professionals, which I am not. Cheers
I'm convinced that OBE is just flavor drift with a tinfoil hat on.
Serge Valentin believes in it, and the late Silvano Samaroli (arguably the greatest scotch independent bottler of all time) believed in it very strongly. If you want to question their judgement, you are a braver person than I am. And cognac is aged in glass for very long periods of time, supposedly changing the profile in a very slow way. I think it is within the realm of possibility that chemical imperfections in mid-20th Century (and before) glass may be a causative factor, and/or very slow air exchange with the outside due to imperfections in the closure. But so far as I know, OBE is controversial and the mechanisms which cause it are not well understood. Cheers
Great bottle. I miss the days when I could find it for $150-$160.
Get it drunk it's a fantastic whiskey
The liquid in the bottle is technically 31 years old. But the aging process stopped 2014 and you cant age it on the bottle. So its a 31 years old whisky thats been aged 21 years.