There is a fine art to aging bourbon. Heck, even understanding the age statement on your bottle of bourbon takes some skill. Bourbon novices may think that the longer bourbon ages in those charred oak barrels, the better the bourbon, but, in reality, over-aging bourbon can have the opposite effect. Bourbon that’s been aging for too long, beyond 15 years, can become rancid, tasting more like bitter cardboard than a spiced, buttery spirit.
All this being said, there is still a high demand for extra-aged bourbon. For example, the oldest bourbon brought to the bottle, a 45-year-old bottle of James Thompson & Brother Final Reserve, went for $1,800 per bottle when it was released a few years ago. Nowadays, a bottle of the same stuff could run you well over $4,000. Only 250 commemorative bottles were released and 100% of the proceeds were donated with most of the money going to the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation and a small percentage going to the Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky which held the initial James Thompson & Brother Final Reserve bourbon launch event.
So is over-aging good or bad?
As a quick refresher, bourbon is aged in oak barrels, sometimes referred to as casks, for a minimum of two years. Unless it’s rapidly aged bourbon, a relatively new, sped-up aging process, which is a whole other can of worms in the bourbon community. Bourbon aging is monitored through strict maturing programs, where twice a year a professional taster samples a little bit of the spirit in the cask to make sure it’s aging well. Once the bourbon hits maturity, it’s bottled and at this point, the aging process stops which means bottled bourbons never go bad.
The bourbon community is sending mixed signals when it comes down to the extra-aging quandary. Even people who managed to nab a nip of the James Thompson & Brother Final Reserve 45-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey make it sound akin to sucking on a handful of woodchips, proving the bottle is more of a novel collector’s item than something to be enjoyed on its own. The most concise way to explain the whole aging debate is the sweet spot for aging bourbon is somewhere in the six to 12-year range, however, some rare, “unicorn” cask-whiskey combos continue working well together beyond the 12 to 15-year mark. So, if you come across an obscenely priced bottle of bourbon that’s been aged for over 20 years, don’t fret, you’re not likely missing out on any incredible tasting notes.
