Evan Williams NAS Ad

[bluesbassdad]

The march isssue of Field & Stream has an ad on the back cover that raises a question.

The ad, not the bottle, bears a seal with the words "EXTRA AGED". The ad copy includes the following:

"The longer you wait ... the better it gets."

"Evan Williams. Aged longer to taste smoother."

The shoulder label on the bottle includes the words "EXTRA AGED" along with "SOUR MASH".

Is all of this merely advertising fluff, or is there a legal requirement associated with this label.

Is the youngest bourbon still as young as 36 months?

Edited: I just checked my open bottle, purchased a year or more ago, and it has the same shoulder label. This is not a new development; I'm merely not very observant.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[cowdery]

If there is no age statement, then no whiskey in the bottle is less than four years old.

The words "extra aged" have no legal meaning. Nor do the words "aged longer." The implication is that EW is aged longer than other NAS products but it's just an implication, a suggestion, not a claim, so they don't have to defend or prove it.

My dad is an engineer who hates marketing fluff. Once, when I was a kid, he pointed to the words "heavy duty" on a some appliance and asked me, "what do you think makes it 'heavy duty'?" I started in about maybe it was thicker hoses or more steel and he stopped me. "It means some guy in Marketing thought it would sell better if it said 'heavy duty' on it."

Naturally, I work in marketing.

[StraightBoston]

The safest bet is that the youngest whiskey in that bottle is now less than 7 years old! (And the youngest whiskey in EW 1783 is now less than 10 years old, same with AAA 10 Star; the youngest whiskey in Wild Turkey No. 8 was less than 8 years old; etc. etc.)

[sotnsipper]

The safest bet is that the youngest whiskey in that bottle is now less than 7 years old! (And the youngest whiskey in EW 1783 is now less than 10 years old, same with AAA 10 Star; the youngest whiskey in Wild Turkey No. 8 was less than 8 years old; etc. etc.)

It is still one of my regulars, regardless. EW was what turned me to bourbon and for that I will always be a faithful follower. It is just one of many that have dropped the age statement, but it does seem to be a growing trend. I am not saying I am happy about it. It is still a good bourbon in my book.

[Buffalo Bill]

If there is no age statement, then no whiskey in the bottle is less than four years old.

The words "extra aged" have no legal meaning. Nor do the words "aged longer." The implication is that EW is aged longer than other NAS products but it's just an implication, a suggestion, not a claim, so they don't have to defend or prove it.

My dad is an engineer who hates marketing fluff. Once, when I was a kid, he pointed to the words "heavy duty" on a some appliance and asked me, "what do you think makes it 'heavy duty'?" I started in about maybe it was thicker hoses or more steel and he stopped me. "It means some guy in Marketing thought it would sell better if it said 'heavy duty' on it."

Naturally, I work in marketing.

HEAVY-DUTY BOURBON!

BB

[bluesbassdad]

If there is no age statement, then no whiskey in the bottle is less than four years old. [snip]

Somehow I can never recall that fact. When I wrote the original post, I was thinking that NAS meant not less than three years old.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield