Single Malt Whisky with No Age Statements

Many will have noticed a growing trend in the single malt whisky market to produce whiskies with no age statement. So what’s behind the thinking of this? Will whisky drinkers find this more appealing?

Single Malts With No Age Statement

More and more single malt whisky producers admit that their aged stocks are becoming more and more rare. This has been the main factor in now producing single malts with no age-statement. What is interesting though is that research has found that over 90% of single malt lovers view age as an important indicator of quality – the thinking is that “that older whisky, the better it is”. The same research showed that 89% of single malt buyers said they actively looked for an age statement when buying whisky.

Cost of Single Malt Whiskies

What this has done is pushed up the cost of some whiskies with age statements because they are becoming rarer and therefore more collectible. For example, The Macallan has used colours to market its 1824 Series – it starts with Gold and Amber and rising in price to Sienna and Ruby. At The Whisky Exchange, the cheapest Macallan with an age-statement is the 18-year-old at around £150.

Ken Grier, a director at The Macallan says: “We originally started with a non-aged range in duty free to have a point of difference. People were interested and intrigued and that gave us the confidence to launch it in certain parts of the world.” He states that there’s hasn’t been any negative feedback to these single malts with not age-statement, however most single malts that they sell still have an age on them – especially in Asia and the US. However, the general trend is towards no age-statements single malts.