Onionhead Cerebrum Hanching Chung 鍾老師，謝謝你提供這有趣的報導供閱讀，個人似乎已將「性好杯中威士忌」的「氣質」外顯化了。
為了滿足市場需求陡升（increasingly market demand），窖藏長齡威士忌因稀少性已經不足已因應廣大的消費或新興市場的胃納，尤其以單一純麥（SMW）更是夯到不行，台灣在白蘭地退場後，洋酒威士忌是次於中國白酒的另一主流系列。
單一酒廠「混齡」（淺齡混合不等長齡）的調和措施就成為增加供應量的重大關鍵。還有沒有蒸餾廠的品牌廠，如不斷走路的更以不同酒廠產品的不等齡酒體調和，透過講故事說故事的手法行銷全球，並哄抬售價。當然也有吃鱉的廠牌，如有名的雀鳥，台幣一千塊錢可以購得四瓶，酒體品質與口感都不壞，很適合普飲，只是在台灣不討喜，才會兩百五一瓶。
釀酒有幾項關鍵要因，一是溫度，另一是濕度，還有水質。能駕馭這些要因便能醞釀美酒。舉個例說，台灣金車的噶瑪蘭位處亞熱帶，這也是釀酒的好地方，因為發酵需要的溫度和濕度在這都有，外加還有品質良好，且入喉順滑的雪山天自來的水。釀酒廠只要不斷地「試誤」實驗，便可以找到如何運用溫濕這兩項要因的 know-how，大大地縮短酒體成熟的時程。換句話說，佳釀孕育就不必如同溫帶的蘇格蘭一般，需要透過長齡來熟成（matured）。通常蘇格蘭放個12年，在台灣的宜蘭冬山就只需藏個四年多光景便可將窖藏桶裝的酒體達到渾然天成的熟化階段。如此情境下，在酒標標記桶裝齡長就沒有必要性了，亦即何須以己之短攻人之長呢？人家放十幾年以熟成，那是不得不然，因為人家那裡常年日照與氣溫都不如台灣宜蘭。只要金車不在意於「天使抽稅」的高稅率，當然也可以將窖藏桶裝酒體多放一、兩年。酒齡長短與酒體的口味、口感、芬芳程度已經未必是等比級數的相依關係了。
依照威士忌桶裝庫存三年的基本規範，在台灣只要三年多就可以開始選桶調和了。講究單桶的話，因為要講究成熟風味的多層次口感，當然會將時程稍微拉長，但也未必是蘇格蘭的10年、12年，或是更高齡。
酒體的 CNPC（色澤、香氣、品飲、口感）才是芬芳順口好落喉的檢視要項，兒成就CNPC的好品質則端視醞釀的木桶。在這頁面有表列簡單說明。（http://bit.ly/1aZ7UUx）
噶瑪蘭（Kavalan）的「Solist」（57.8%, OB, NAS, Sherry Cask C#S060904031, 516 Bts., 2014）還得到MMA的金牌，這酒窖藏絕對是淺齡，卻是足以打敗一缸子習見的長齡高齡品牌產品。簡單說，金車噶瑪蘭的好酒能夠在評審「盲飲」情境下脫穎而出，不在於酒齡，而是因為釀造技術與很棒的西班牙雪莉桶。（http://www.maltmaniacs.net/awards/）
You Won't Believe Where the World's Best Whisky Is Made.
Sorry, it isn't Scotland or Japan. It is 台灣金車噶瑪蘭威士忌。
Got it ?
Source :
TIME said on this page. （ti.me/1xrsBT8）
You don’t have to choose your Scotch by the numbers. Increasingly, distillers are dispensing with age statements and focusing on the many other factors that make their spirits sing
By
IN SCOTCH AISLES across the country, a reformation is quietly under way. Among the stolid contingent of age-emblazoned single-malts—the Glenlivet 12, the Macallan 15, Talisker 18—a mysterious new crowd is creeping in, and their labels are defiantly numeral-free.
For decades, the Scotch industry has marketed its single malts with the prominent use of age statements—that number on the bottle that, by law, represents the youngest whisky therein. Now, more and more distillers are omitting the information entirely from their new releases, unshackling themselves from the constraints that those numbers impose.
In the past year alone, the Glenlivet and the Macallan as well as Laphroaig, Highland Park, Glennglassough, Bowmore, Auchentoshan, Mortlach and Oban have all added bottles without age statements to their core product lines in the U.S. Globally, the Macallan is leading the charge, replacing its 10-, 12- and 15-year stalwarts in some markets with the 1824 Series, a quartet of bottlings differentiated by the whisky’s color (as well as its price). The Glenlivet, in addition to its two new non-age-declared offerings in the U.S., recently unveiled an expression called Founder’s Reserve to the U.K. and Germany; it is reportedly being teed up to replace the distillery’s benchmark 12-year-old.
Although distillers spin the move away from age declarations as “innovation,” skeptics have been quick to suss out the pragmatism at play. The growing global thirst for whisky has left the Scotch industry struggling to keep up with demand, especially when it comes to older liquids, and age statements can leave distillers with their hands tied, unable to produce a given bottling without a sufficient quantity of whisky that has met the particular age hurdle. Removing the numbers might allow a blender to combine, say, 8- or 9-year-old whisky with a small quantity of a much older one to approximate the taste of a 12-year-old expression.
‘While a number might be reassuring, age is an imprecise measure of quality.’
So after years of cultivating an almost pathological obsession with age among Scotch drinkers, distillers have begun to backpedal, emphasizing other aspects of the process that drive taste and value. “Now the industry has new mantras: It’s all about the quality of the wood used, or it’s all about the master distiller’s secrets,” said Ian Buxton, the Scotch expert and author of “101 Legendary Whiskies.”
Ulterior motives aside, I’m inclined to embrace the proliferation of age-free bottles. After all, age statements started out as nothing more than a marketing gimmick: When single malts were first widely exported in the 1960s (before that all the malt whisky made went into blended Scotch), age was touted in an effort to imply superiority over the blends that consumers were used to.
And while a number might be reassuring, age is an imprecise measure of quality at best. Old whisky matured in poor conditions can be dreadful, while many people argue that a Scotch at just 5 or 6 years old is a truer expression of the malt. There is no particular magic in the 12-, 15- and 18-year age hurdles. “Every cask hits its peak at a slightly different time,” said Gregor Mina, the brand director of Ardbeg, which has had tremendous success with ageless bottlings including Uigeadail and Supernova. “Imagine if you were baking a cake, and it was perfect in 10 minutes. You wouldn’t leave it another 10 minutes to be ‘extra’ perfect.”
Although whisky experts suspect that most age-free releases skew younger than their age-declared counterparts, that’s not necessarily indicative of lower quality, particularly at a time when distillers have more control than ever over blending and aging. “The industry’s scientific understanding of what exactly is happening inside the cask has come on immeasurably in the past 20 years,” said Mr. Buxton. “So there’s better choices of wood now and better management, and that’s having a positive impact on the quality of younger whiskies.”
The bottom line? There are many other factors besides vintage to consider when selecting a Scotch. The flowchart below can guide you to a bottle you’ll enjoy. As Mr. Buxton put it, “If you like the taste, then it’s the right thing for you. Don’t worry so much about age.”
SCOTCH OFF THE CLOCK // A Guide to Finding A No-Age-Statement Bottle That Pleases Your Palate
PHOTO: F. MARTIN RAMIN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
ARDBEG UIGEADAIL | 54% ABV, $80
Ardbeg Uigeadail
Intensely flavored and masterfully complex, Uigeadail (pronounced “Oo-ga-dal”) combines the Ardbeg distillery’s trademark smoky character with rich, figgy, spicy qualities from ex-Sherry casks. It’s non-chill-filtered for added body, and bottled at cask strength.
BOWMORE SMALL BATCH RESERVE | 40% ABV, $40
Bowmore Small Batch Reserve
An absolute standout for the price, this expression offers a delicate blend of gentle smoke, sea salt and honey. An ideal introduction to the peaty, smoky whiskies produced in Scotland’s Islay region, it’s relatively light, lively and well balanced.
HIGHLAND PARK DARK ORIGINS | 47% ABV, $80
Highland Park Dark Origins
Named in reference to Highland Park’s founder, the 18th-century moonshiner Magnus Eunson, this whisky gets its mahogany color and rich sweetness from maturation in twice as many first-fill Sherry butts as the standard Highland Park 12-year. Tastes of cigars and chocolate.
OBAN LITTLE BAY | 43% ABV, $75
Oban Little Bay
Some of Oban’s production is blended into Johnny Walker, but this new release makes a strong case for seeing more single malts from one of Scotland’s oldest and smallest distilleries. A smooth and gentle spirit with a mild citrus sweetness and a dry finish.
THE MACALLAN RARE CASK | 43% ABV, $300
The Macallan Rare Cask
Crafted using an exceptionally high proportion of Spanish-oak Sherry casks handpicked from the distillery’s inventory, the Macallan’s new core expression sits near the top of the ageless Scotch category in the U.S. Full bodied but not too sweet; think dried fruit, ginger, lemon peel.
MORTLACH RARE OLD | 43% ABV, $130
Mortlach Rare Old
One of four recent releases from this freshly refurbished Dufftown distillery (known for its exceptionally complex distillation process), Rare Old employs a mixture of Sherry and bourbon casks to produce a malty, mildly herbaceous and very balanced top-shelf spirit.
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