The youngest drop rules
A '12' on the label means every drop is at least twelve years old — the age statement is always the youngest whisky in the marriage. There may be far older casks in the mix, but the baby names the bottle.
Age is not a score. Old whisky is rarer and oakier — not automatically better. Plenty of 30-year-olds are tired; plenty of 8-year-olds are electric.