The Promise Of Two Year Old Whiskey

The other day, Matt and I tasted the Artisan Series Wheat Recipe Bourbon from Kentucky Artisan Distillery. It has a two year old age statement. This prompted a discussion on Two Year Old whiskey. Rosemary pointed out that the Peerless Rye was an excellent whiskey when they first released it as a two year old rye. I have always been a person who does not believe age is everything and there are some excellent two year old whiskeys. I thought this might be an excellent blog, prompted by Rosemary and her thoughts, so I am writing this blog.

Looking at the history, in 1909 when straight whiskey was legally defined in the Taft Decision, two year old whiskey was commonly available to consumers. A lot of whiskey was still being sold to consumers out of the barrel at that time. You could take your own bottle to the liquor store or saloon and get it filled and take it home. This started to be phased out in the 1890s when bottling whiskey by distilleries became more profitable for the distilleries and affordable to the consumer, but it was still possible for consumers to purchase whiskey from the barrel. Eight year old whiskey was considered old whiskey at this point because the bonding period was eight years and distillers had to pay their taxes on the whiskey at the end of eight years. Very few distillers aged whiskey longer than eight years because no one wanted to suffer the loss to the angel’s share on tax paid whiskey.

In modern times, two year old whiskey has become more common as some newly opened distilleries bottle whiskey at two years old in order to get their brands on the market. Many smaller distilleries still bottle whiskey at two years old, but add older whiskey to the blend. When they do this they still have to call it “two years old” because the law requires you to declare the age of the youngest whiskey in the bottle and if the whiskey is under four years of age, you have to have an age statement.

Two year old whiskey can be very good. What I look for in a whiskey that is that young is not what it tastes like now, but what is its potential when it gets older? There should not be any bad tastes such as mustiness or finger nail polish remover in the whiskey. There should be plenty of vanilla and fruit and spice flavors as well as the oak wood. Oak wood in a two year old whiskey can be very bitter and tannic. Lincoln Henderson once told me that you get a lot of flavor from the barrel in the first six months of aging and then you spend the next four years getting rid of that flavor. What he meant was that time and oxidation can change those bitter flavors into more desirable flavors such as vanilla and caramel. After the whiskey has been in the barrel for two years, those changes are taking place and the whiskey becomes more drinkable.

The distiller needs to judge the flavor of their whiskey and if they think it has a good flavor after two years, they can bottle it. They may have preferred to wait until the whiskey was four years old, but often, they need the income to keep the doors open. When you purchase a two year old whiskey, think of it more as an investment in the distillery. It helps them pay the bills while the barrels in the warehouse are aging. You just need to trust that the distiller has put a good solid, two year old whiskey in the bottle.