Whether you are new to the whiskey category (and if so, welcome!) or whether you know your single malts from your bourbon, it’s always important to understand what you’re buying. By learning how to read a whiskey label, you’ll be prepared to make sound purchases and confident in your selections.
TERMS OF SIGNIFICANCE
Single Barrel
This shows that the product is consists of whiskey from one barrel. The size of the barrel isn’t restricted, but it is often a standard 53-gallon (200L) white oak. When purchasing single barrel whiskeys, keep in mind that there will be variances between individual barrels.
Single Malt
This term refers to a malt whiskey that is distilled at one distillery. In the EU, this means that the whiskey must be distilled in pot-stills, and the grain used must be barley. Additionally, if Scotch or Irish, the whiskey must be aged for at least three years. The whiskey used in the bottling can be blended from many different barrels from many different ages, as long as all of it is produced at one distillery.
Single Malt Whiskies / Photo Credit: Scotch Trooper
Blended Malt
Replacing the former term, Vatted Malt, blended malt indicates a whisky which is comprised of single malt whiskies from more than one distillery.
Cask Strength
This indicates that water isn’t added to the whiskey after aging, and prior to bottling. Typically whiskeys of this sort will be sold at higher than 46% ABV, but there isn’t a minimum.
NCF (non chill-filtered)
Chill-filtration is and industrial process that removes congeners from whiskey to make it aesthetically transparent. However, these congeners and particles contain flavor and texture and removing them can affect the end result. You will only see brands that DON’T chill-filter their products making a Non Chill-Filtered claim, so if you don’t see it, assume that your whiskey has been chill-filtered.
Age Statement
Increasingly, NAS (no-age-statement) whiskeys are hitting the market. But, if a product makes a claim that its whiskey is a certain number of years old, not a drop of whiskey in the bottling can be younger than that age statement. It can however be older.
Straight
This term is only used with American whiskeys. It means that the whiskey aged for at least two years in charred, new oak barrels (straight corn whiskey can be aged in used charred oak barrels or un-charred new oak). It can be a blend of more than one straight whiskey type (i.e. bourbon, rye, wheat, corn), provided that all the whiskey comes from the same state.
Bonded or Bottled-in-Bond
This United States term denotes whiskey which is aged for a minimum of four years under government supervision and is distilled from one distillery, one distiller and from one distilling season. The whiskey is also bottled at 50% ABV.
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If you want all of the details about the bottle you’re enjoying at the tip of your fingers every time, Distiller’s built-in barcode scanner is the tool for you. Easily see important details like barrel type, age and mashbill, plus read expert and community reviews, and flavor profiles. The barcode scanner is available to everyone, but Distiller Pro members never see any ads between loads, so consider upgrading to Distiller Pro to unlock this powerful tool. Just tap the SCAN icon in the main menu of the Distiller app to get started.
TERMS OF LITTLE (OR NO) MEANING
Small Batch
This could denote a bottling with two barrels in a batch, or it could mean 2,000 barrels in a batch. There is no legal definition for this term. The brands themselves determine what this means. It really is only helpful to differentiate between the products the brand itself makes.
Craft, Handcrafted, Craft by Hand
None of these terms have any legal significance with regard to the whiskey production. There isn’t a consensus among the whiskey community, and claims of a “craft, handcrafted, or craft by hand” often lead to more questions than answers.
OTHER THINGS TO NOTE
VINTAGE YEARS, BOTTLING DATES
Years often appear on whiskey bottles. Pay attention to whether they have vintage dates (year of distillation) or bottling dates (year of bottling). Some whiskeys have both on their bottles. Do a math equation and you’ll have your age statement.
Vintage date examples: Balblair, Glenrothes, and Glen Garioch.
Release dates examples: Diageo Special Release Single Malts, Buffalo Trace Antique Collection.
Both vintage and release date examples: Independent Bottlers like Signatory, Gordon & MacPhail, and Cadenhead’s.
STATE OF DISTILLATION
The country of origin is a required feature on all spirits. Additionally, in the U.S., if the state on the label for the company address doesn’t match the distillation state, the state of distillation must be given. However, the TTB (Alcohol Tax and Tobacco Bureau) has approved many labels as of late without this information. Some of this is due to the TTB being overwhelmed, but it is still something to keep an eye on.
Reading a whiskey label at the store?
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