What is a NAS Whisky?

johnnie-walker-black-closeupLike any other industry, people love their acronyms. One acronym that is thrown around a lot in whisky discussions on forums and chat rooms is NAS but it’s not a different type or brand of whisky. NAS, quite simply, stands for “No Age Statement.”

No age statement simply means that there is no age listed on the bottle itself. By law, if you put an age statement on the bottle then every drop in that bottle has to be at least that age. A 15 year scotch is comprised entirely of scotch older than fifteen years. A 30 year scotch is comprised entirely of scotch older than thirty years.

A NAS scotch simply means that it’s legally bound to have been matured for at least three years, which is Scottish law on whisky, but it could contain 12 years, 8 years, or just 3 years. Without an age statement, the distiller has more flexibility in what they produce because they aren’t limited by age.

What’s an example of a NAS whisky? Johnnie Walker is a classic and well known example of a popular blended scotch that is a NAS scotch. There are no age statements on many of the bottles (Reader Kent corrected me, there is an age statement on some of their bottles – many do not – my apologies!), they simply go with a color to help you discern the various levels, which could be associated with ages but they are not legally bound to them. If you look at the line of Johnnie Walker, it’s Red, Black, Gold, Green (discontinued though), Blue, etc. There are age statements on the Black (12), Green (15), and Gold (18) but not the others.

Why do distillers make NAS whisky? What’s happening to a lot of scotches, as they increase in popularity, is that they’re having trouble keeping up with demand. The tricky part is they can’t go back in time and make more! If you bottle a 12 year old scotch today, that means you put it in the barrel in 2000 or 2001. There is a limited supply and if demand spikes this year, you can’t make any more. By removing the age statement, you give yourself more flexibility and can keep up with demand more easily.

You’ll notice that Macallan only sells NAS whisky in duty free. That’s partially because of demand and in order to keep up, they needed to go to NAS. If you walk into a duty free store right now, you won’t see Macallan with ages, you’ll see colored boxes and the salesperson will tell you they correspond to the price points of 12, 18, etc.

I hope that demystifies one acronym for you!

(Credit: SimonQ)

8 thoughts on “What is a NAS Whisky?

  1. The last time I checked bottles of Johnnie Walker in Canada, the Black had a 12 year age statement, the Green had a 15 year age statement and the Platinum has a 18 year statement. In fact, if you look on the Johnnie Walker website, the picture of the Black label still has a 12 year age statement.

    http://www.johnniewalker.com/en-us/blacklabel/

    The only JW labels that do not carry an age statement are Red, Double Black, the new Gold Reserve and Blue

    Personally, I think the best example of NAS Whisky and why age doesn’t matter is Bruichladdich which was sold in 2001 and only recently has released age statement whisky (most notably the Laddie 10). Bruichladdich has been making great Whisky for the last ten years and most of it is fairly young (Port Charlotte, Octomore, Rocks, etc.)

  2. Don’t forget the XR-21! The JW super-special Odyssey and Island Green Labels are also NAS Whiskies. Strange errors and omissions from a Scotch Addict.

    Jim, do update your blogs. And check out mine at noelonwhisky.blogspot.in

  3. “I hope that demystifies one acronym for you!”
    No it doesn’t. Update your appalling article, for goodness’ sake.
    Check what you write-you haven’t got your basics right. NAS is here to stay. When the distilleries ran out of aged whiskies, they made up with almost as old whiskies. JWDBL uses Talisker 10 and Lagavulin 8. Probably Caol Ila 8 as well. Hence the NAS. There is one huge problem coming up: Stocks of aged whisky are now piling up! In what avatar will we see them? Extra Special 18/21/25 YOs? Or bloody expensive NAS expressions, since they can’t go back on their statements of 5 years ago, like: “Cognac uses vague and confusing terms like VSOP & XO. Our whiskies state their age on the label. Age statements are totally unambiguous.”
    “The only JW labels that do not carry an age statement are Red, Double Black, the new Gold Reserve and Blue.” NYET.
    Johnnie Walker New Explorers’ Club Collection, the JW Odyssey, Island Green Label, Swing Superior, Swing, John Walker and Sons Private Collection Whiskies and all usurious special editions.

  4. Diageo and JW have pushed out 25 different editions of their Blue Label. All are NAS. And why is Jim Beveridge doing so? Some of their vast hoard of aged barrels are nearing the red line. They have to get rid of them. So, push out strange-sounding Blue Labels. Their Blue Label Cities edition has only ONE product!
    Did you know that Johnnie Walker has one select brand called JW&S Ltd?
    This special bottle was created in 1956. The label on the Swing-style bottle says ‘JW&S Ltd. To commemorate the opening of the new premises of John Walker & Sons Ltd. at Hill Street, Kilmarnock on 11th September 1956’ (sic) The reverse of the bottle bears the embossed Kilmarnock Burgh coat of arms. No capacity or strength stated. It has a stopper cork, a lead capsule embossed “Swing” on top and comes with a glass stopper. Judging by SWR 2009, this bottle is an illegal product today

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.