Lighter whiskies for millennials
On a warm evening in June, the thirsty crowd milling about a Brooklyn event space might have gladly sipped glasses of white wine, or crisp gin & tonics. Instead, all held drams of golden whisky in their hand.
The event was to celebrate the introduction of Toki, a new offering from Japanese whisky maker Suntory, with gentle almond and grapefruit accents and no age statement. It’s just one of a growing number of what we're dubbing “whisper whiskies”—pale-hued, refreshing spirits with a deliberately light, mellow flavour profile, offering an antidote to bold bourbons and brooding, smoky Scotches.
These whiskies span fresh, grassy bottlings from Ireland (Kinahan’s, Tullamore D.E.W.) to heathered Scotches without peat (Compass Box Enlightenment) to Japanese (Toki, Kikori) and American whiskies made with a lighter hand on the oak. All are ideal for drinking during the warmweather months and into the crisper days of autumn.
What’s behind these easy sippers? A little bit of demand, said Flavien Desoulin, owner of Brandy Library and Copper & Oak, two New York bars with extensive whiskey selections and a whole lot of supply.
“I see quite a bit of light whiskey, but in the shape of no-age-statement Scotch,” he explained.
Desoulin pointed to the depletion of many bolder flavoured, longer-aged whiskies, particularly in Japan and Scotland, as one reason for the uptick in "no-age statement" whiskies, as well as newer blends and, more simply, younger bottles overall.
It’s also about appealing to new segments of drinkers, Desoulin continued, including women, those who usually gravitate toward wine or beer, and younger consumers, who may not have developed a taste for super-peated Scotch such as Ardbeg or Laphroaig.
“Whisky has a lot of personality,” he noted. “But it can be too strong, too much. We have been seeing [lighter styles] for three or four years, but it’s becoming more pronounced now.”
Regarding those slippery millennials in particular, Desoulin offered some telling observations about the youngest demographic of drinking age and how they interact with whiskey: “They’re kids, and kids like candies. It’s got to be sweet, super-fruity, and light in the body. They don’t want to think about it too much—that’s their attention span. It’s got to seduce them quick, they’re not looking for depth.”
That is not a recipe for contemplatively sipping from a long-aged, expensive bottle.
In contrast to that particularly sceptical viewpoint of the market, some whiskey producers are deliberately making lighter whiskies as a point of pride.
Take John Glaser, London-based whisky maker for Compass Box. He's releasing a number of lighter-style whiskies, including Asyla and the newly introduced limited edition Enlightenment bottling, alongside a portfolio that also includes more robust, full-flavoured expressions.
He explained that whiskey can be measured along a very broad spectrum: At one end, they might be massively smoky and peated, or rich and bold, with lots of caramellike or sherry-like flavour. In the middle, moderate variations extend to honey, floral, fruit, or spice notes. And then we see the light: elegant, subtle whiskies that still have some complexity.