12 yr old versus the 18 yr old

[ralfy legend]

Right I posted in wrong section so here's goes , is there a 12 that beats the 18 from same distillery, ? I was asked this today and couldn't answer , a month ago a friend said he thought the Chivas 12 was better than the 18 of which I just can't see but hey his view , so thoughts please.

[Alexppp]

OK this makes more sense. I was about to answer in the other thread thinking that the question was more about the best bang for your buck younger whiskies, of which there are many of course. (just as a short example, give me the a young Balblair over the Glenfiddich 18 or 21 any day of the week)

This question is more subjective. Personally I'm partial to younger whiskies in general - the more experienced I get with whisky the more I find myself preferring more spirit-driven rather than cask-driven expressions.* So with that in mind I'd say I prefer the Deanston 12 over the 18 year old for example - the latter has had a substantial period of its maturation in first fill bourbon casks and it shows in the slightly too bourbon sweet (for me) profile.

What else? Maybe Glenfiddich 12 over 18 for me - I prefer the freshness of the younger one, and also think it's more consistent in general. I also used to favour the Glenlivet 12 First Fill (when it was widely available) over the 18 year old.

It's hard to say though - I'm trying to think of all my favourite whiskies with a young age statement and other than the Deanston I either haven't tried older ones from the same distillery or tend to like them just as much. (or more)

*There are exceptions to this - as far as sherried whiskies are concerned I mostly prefer older ones.

[James T]

It really is all to do with personal taste but I would take the Bowmore 10 or 12 over the Bowmore 18 but don't get me wrong the Bowmore 18 is not a bad dram just for my money the 10 and 12 are better and cheaper.

Another Islay which I prefer the younger whisky is the Caol Ila 12 over the 18

Glenfarclas 12, 15 and 17 over the 21 and 30

[AB53Coo]

It's a funny subject
For me, I prefer Glenfiddich 12 to the 15 and 18

Did the strathisla tour recently and learned that the chivas regal drams won't work in this arguement as the chivas 18 uses a different blend to the 12

[Craig Mac]

I would prefer the Benromach 10 year old to the 15 year old.

[davidbe]

The 12 year cask strength Springbank beats the 18 year most years, for me.

And not quite the same ages, but I much prefer the Craigellachie 13 over the 17.

[TheWM]

I too prefer lots of younger peaters - caol ila and bowmore spring to mind (last year’s Talisker 8 was better than anything I’ve had from Talisker before).

Although I’m sure that if I grabbed a bottle of 60/70s bottling of a young malt and compared it to an older version of a malt from the same distillery but recently bottled I’d be enjoying the younger one more than not. Also quite a few distilleries poured older malts into their younger, age statemented malts back in the day.

There’s also cask management to consider as has been touched upon earlier. I’d imagine in this type of exercise, you’d want a straight out shoot out between a 12 and 18 both aged in the same cask, rather than one that has been double casked or finished in a different barrel.

So without being a pedant I’m assuming you mean current core bottlings. Lagavulin 8 I prefer (just) to 16. On the other scale Hakushu 12 I prefer to the 18.

I’ve remarked previously how I’m finding sweet spots in Scottish malts that are youngish 6-10 years that I’m not finding through the range until they get around the 21 year mark.

It’s an interesting topic that’s worth further experimentation for sure

[TheMaster]

You have to bear in mind that whisky line-ups are also not always vertical. You may get a 12yo that is fresh on bourbon casks and an 18yo of from the same distillery that is sherried, or visa-versa. They may sherry up a younger whisky to give it more flavour and let an older whisky have more bourbon cask with the aging.

That aside, some I can think of for my personal opinion are:

Bunnahabhain 12yo over the 18yo
Springbank 12yo over the 18yo


For me though, the usual sweet spot I find is around the mid-age mark, usally 15/16 year old whiskies. I often find such whiskies considerably better than the 10/12yo versions and are usually more rounded and complete than ones in their 20's. Obviously it depends on the whisky.....

For example, I much prefer the anCnoc 18yo to the 24 year old, and the GlenDronach 15 to the 21.


Also, in terms of age, as Islay whisky gets older it looses it peatiness, so if you want a big peat bomb it'll be the younger stuff that you're after, say a Laphoaig 10 over an 18.

[Jd345]

I'd say the cask strength lagavulin 12 is a better drink than the regular 16, but they're very different to begin with. For a while the glendronach 12 was beating out the 18, but that was a product of the mothballing changing the actual age of the whisky.

[havaska]

I prefer Lagavulin 8 over the 16

I think a lot of the heavily peated Islay whiskies can be better when younger

[arqueturus]

I'll throw my hat into the ring on this one.

Aberlour 12 over the 16 - I tried the 16 first and was absolutely underwhelmed, I then got the 12 last year to use in a Christmas cake and thought it was far better.

Royal Brackla 12 over the 16 - tried them both at the distillery and bought the 12 as it had much more going on. I eventually got the 21 and that's better than them both but the 16 just seemed to be an uncomfortable teenager

[prestonclub]

We all know that the age statement of a whisky was introduced in the market to sell the old stock of spirit when the whisky industry was at is lowest. They made us believe the older is the better.

Nowadays, NAS is the common statement on a label simply because they cannot let the cask get older as the demand is high.

A good whisky is a good whisky, whatever the age.
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[asmazda]

In general, I think 18’s are better than 12’s out of official bottling core range. Of course I’m not considering price... there is always diminishing returns as you move up the ladder.

But I will say when it comes to pleated whiskey, especially Springbank and cask strength versions, they tend to beat out the 18’s for me. The Springbank 12 is just so much more satisfying than the 18.

[jsberry]

My experience is that scotches in the 10-12 year range are often better than the same brand in the 17-18 year range.

Balvenie Double Cask is an example. I prefer the 12-year to the 17-year straight up, even at the same price. The 17-year is similar but thinner.

[lincoln imp]

There are always exceptions but generally I think the best age for a whisky is 18-23 years.
Glendronach is a prime example where the 1970`s distilled examples of 18-20 year were far superior not just to the 12 year expression but compared to much older aged examples also.
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