Is a scotched bottled twenty or thirty years ago different than the exact same brand bottled today? I am directing this question to all scotches, blended and single malts. It just seems like there are too many variables and slight changes accumulate over long periods of time to create distinctive differences in taste and character.
Oh, maybe a really peaty or smokey single malt will still be very peaty or smokey, but because of changes in the environment, water, world temperatures, quality of barrels, frequency of opening and testing (tasting), or quality of ingredients that go into the makings............ it seems almost impossible to maintain the exact same flavor.
Even blenders change or die and new ones come in with their own preconceived notions. Has there been any definitive work done on this? I am thinking if there is a current bottling I really like, that I might buy a lifetimes supply and put it into my treasure room. Even blends.... what happens when there just isn't any more of that special single that was used as the base on which the flavor was constructed?
Jimmy