I recently read an online review of a whisky that was written by a blogger. There were a number of comments and references in the review where it was evident the writer was criticising the whisky for being 40% ABV. Having such a mindset is a slippery slope – reviewers & commentators need to be careful to distinguish between “I would have preferred to have seen this whisky bottled at a higher strength; I believe it would benefit from being at a higher proof” and criticising or faulting the whisky merely for being 40% ABV, as though it were a flaw or fault in production.
It raises a few interesting points. There is no doubt that many of us prefer whiskies at higher strengths. Cask-strength whiskies – which only as recently as 20 years ago were still relatively scarce and harder to come by – are now as common as nude shots of Britney Spears, and once you become accustomed to the higher ABV whiskies, I certainly acknowledge and agree that 40% malts have to work a little harder to keep our tastebuds entertained.
