You say to someone, “How’s that 47 year old Whisky?” and you’re kinda in a bind.

I mean, Age = Quality, right? Something older than me was cradled, protected, untouched, and has cost so much to make. And more wood equals better, right?

Probably not. I mean, we’ve already seen that climate affects the taste. Young whiskies can be good. There’s expectations of terroir that need to be followed. There’s the grain/mixture of grains they used. What cask was it in? Was it looked over by a crazy person? What’s the average flight speed of an African Sparrow?

All of this taken into consideration. And then I go shopping on Master of Malt, a friend says they’re going to bring some stuff over for me, and boom, I’m ordering like a fool who ignores everything and sees “47”.

Girvan 47 year old 1965 (cask 9487) The Clan Denny (Douglas Laing)