Making The Right Choice

It is a well known fact that a significant portion of the flavours of a malt are a part of the alcohol content rather than the water content. You can very well expect a malt with 40% ABV to have less intense flavours than a malt that has 46% ABV or more.

If you are to buy a malt thats 10 years old or less, I would suggest you try and stick with an ABV of 46% or more if available as they will have more intense flavour than a 40% ABV counterpart.

As a side note, I would like to point out that any malt in a bottle that is over 75-85% empty will probably change its character over a period of time due to exposure to air. Moreover if its exposed to air, light and heat for a relatively long period the change in the character is very distinct. It will not go bad like wine does but it will certainly change its character. In such cases its better to finish the bottle once it reaches the 75-85% mark rather than keep it in the bar.