BourbonEnthusiast.com

I know it's an odd question, and extremely unlikely.

But I just noticed that my beloved 1L bottles of Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star say "Aged at least 36 months" (very tiny font, of course). They started new bottles a couple months ago, and this is with the new bottle. Never checked with the old bottle, but it's small enough not to have noticed, I guess.
Didn't notice a drop in quality with the bottle change.

Out of curiosity, I checked the 1.75L bottles, and it doesn't say it anywhere. It's labeled straight bourbon whiskey.

Am I mistaken, or does that mean the 1.75L bottles must be 4 years old?
I'm also assuming BT wouldn't put a 3 year age statement on the 1L without using a fair amount of 3 year old whiskey.
Now, both are listed as 4 YO on the VA ABC website, but it's hardly a reliable source.

Also interesting, the 1.75L has always been a higher cost per liter than the 1L. by a fairly significant amount, really, considering the larger size should be cheaper by volume (why I've never bought a 1.75 until now). It's currently $14.82/L for the 1.75 and $12.50 for a L.

Anyway, just seems odd, and I'm wondering if anybody knows more on the subject. Never heard of different sizes of the same label being a different age.
My guess is that there's a new 3 year label on the way shortly for the 1.75

It means the 1.75 is still 4 years old (explains the price difference) and only time will tell if it remains so.

My take is the liter size is intended for for bars and restaurants where it will be used primarily as a mixer. 36 months is old enough for that purpose so there's no profit incentive to make it any better.

It's pretty concerning. The only bourbon I've bought over the past couple of months is AAA. Really love the stuff. The 3 YO hasn't been too bad, but I assume, over time, they'd mix more and more 3 YO in than they do now and the quality would plummet.

I was hold onto irrational hope that that 1.75 would remain unaffected, but that's probably silly. I'm sure the "At least 36 month" labels for the 1.75's are on the way.

I'm not as concerned with the age (there's little difference in color and flavor between 36 months and 4 years) so long as we're talking mixers, and it is all the same quality as the older expressions. Still it takes between 6-8 years for a Bourbon to be fully grown so anything less is a compromise.

My concern is their next step will be reuse barrels which will produce a lighter, more Canadian style whisky.

Squire wrote:I'm not as concerned with the age (there's little difference in color and flavor between 36 months and 4 years) so long as we're talking mixers, and it is all the same quality as the older expressions. Still it takes between 6-8 years for a Bourbon to be fully grown so anything less is a compromise.

My concern is their next step will be reuse barrels which will produce a lighter, more Canadian style whisky.

Easy on that mixer talk now. AAA is a fine, fine bourbon that needs no further enhancement. Not that I'd say no to a vatting with OGD of course.

Well, when offered up in that spirit how could I refuse. Sure, I'll share a dram of that find potion with you.