"Solera" Aged Bourbon?

[Dave_in_Canada]

This particular style of aging is most associated with rum (spirits) or sherries and port, but wondering if it has ever been utilized for aging bourbon (or other American Whiskey).

I know of Jacobs' Creek, which could be argued as a basic style of the solera method, but I understand it was a failure... for this reason, or another reason.

Could bourbon aged the solera method be actually labelled as bourbon? Having studied the regulations, I believe so!

[bluesbassdad]

Do I understand the solera method correctly? I understand that new distillate is added at intervals, and the resulting mixture is only partially drawn out and bottled at intervals.

I would guess the youngest whiskey in the mix would have to qualify as bourbon in order for the mixture to qualify. If so, there would have to be at least a two-year lag between the addition of the last new make and the removal of any of the product for bottling. If the lag is less than three years, then the bottling would be required to so state. (Do I have the correct numbers per the bourbon regs? They were posted recently.)

Such a statement would necessarily understate the average age of the mixture, to the detriment of the producer/seller, I would I think.

I just had an odd thought. If whiskey has been aging in a barrel for some time, then is the barrel still considered "new" at the point in time when more whiskey is added? I think I would argue that it is a used barrel at that point.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield