Why is “older” whiskey generally considered better than “newer” whiskey? And does this apply to all alcohol?
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It’s better because more time and effort has been put into processing it, and the processed used (barrel-aging) actually results in the evaporation of the product, so you have less of it to sell when you’re done. This loss from evaporation has a term of art in the whiskey business, it’s referred to as the “angels’ share”.
As for why it’s considered better, it’s because master distillers have spent centuries perfecting the art of whiskey-making through trial and error. Originally barrel-aging simply occured as an inevitable result of the storage of the product. Barrels were cheap, rugged, and ubiquitous methods of storing and transporting liquids. And whiskey drinkers quickly found that whiskey which had been kept in the barrel longer would taste better than whiskey which was, for lack of a better term, fresh.
So, barrel-aging quickly became a regular part of the finishing process of the drink. It’s also important to remember that the distilling technology used back in the Renaissance when the industry has its roots wasn’t nearly as good as what we have today, which means that there would have been a much higher percentage of off-tasting and smelling compounds in the drink which modern technology can eliminate during distillation. Aging permitted these volatile compounds the opportunity to break down or evaporate.
I won’t cover the chemistry and physics of the aging process, other posters have covered that amply already, but I feel it’s important to understand that the processs of perfecting aging was more of a trial and error development. Distillers and whiskey enthusiasts observed how aging mellowed the whiskey and imparted different flavors, and they began experimenting with it.
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