Tales of the Cocktail® New Orleans 2016

"But, how old is it?" you ask when you see a bottle of whisk(e)y without an age statement. This question is coming up more and more often as new whiskies are released without a number on the bottle. For years consumers have become entranced with the "years old" indicator on a bottle of whisk(e)y, and have come to rely on this number as the key indicator of quality. A recent growth in the release of "Non Age Statement" (NAS) whiskies that have lead consumers and hospitality employees to many questions about the contents of the bottle. This seminar will address the growing trend with a panel of whisk(e)y experts from a cross section of the industry. We will discuss the reasons for the changes along with the potential impact on the industry. We will discuss a movement for a third category of classification for Scotch whiskies that would include full disclosure of the contents, rather than just the youngest whisky in the bottle. We will also delve into how wood affects a whisk(e)y's flavor (angel's share, oxidization, etc.) and the barrel selection process by tasting multiple rare selections of different whiskies from around the globe. By the end you will have a better understanding of why whiskies taste the way they do, how to tell the difference between good whisk(e)y and better whisk(e)y, and you'll see why the answer to, "how old is it?" is most often, "old enough!"