What does the age on a bottle of Scotch mean?
“The age designation reflects the youngest malt in the blend or the youngest malt in the bottle from that distillery,” explains Joe Gomes, store manager and liquor buyer at Blanchard Liquors (103 Harvard Avenue, Allston, 617-782-5588). “For example, a Scotch that contains 12-year-old oak-aged and sherry-aged malts, an 18-year-old malt, and a 21-year-old malt would be labeled as a 12-year-old malt.