Drinking un-aged whiskey is an interesting experience, and an important one if you’re going to have a complete understanding of the whiskey-making process. Comparing the flavors of an un-aged corn whiskey like Shine and more traditional bourbons gives you a sense of what aging contributes to a whiskey, aside from color. Aging whiskey in oak barrels mellows the flavor of the grain, while contributing its own notes. Some distillers are even beginning to use barrels that were previously used to age wine, sherry, and other spirits in order to impart some of that flavor onto the whiskey.