Barrel for at least two years in new, charred oak containers. Other forms of whisky aged in used barrels cannot be called "straight". International laws require any whisky bearing the label "Scotch" to be distilled and matured in Scotland for a minimum of three years and one day in oak casks. By Canadian law, Canadian whiskies must "be aged in small wood for not less than three years", and "small wood" is defined as a wood barrel not exceeding capacity. Since the U.S. law requires the use of new barrels for several popular types of whisky, which is not typically considered
Straight whiskey water, cordial, or other mixer. Thus, in bartending terminology, "straight" is typically synonymous with "neat". The core aging requirement that defines a whiskey as "straight" is if the distillate has spent at least two years stored in charred new oak barrels, except corn whiskey which must use uncharred or used oak barrels. The spirit mellows in this time and penetrates the wood, extracting many of the flavor compounds and caramelized wood sugars. A straight whiskey that has been aged less than four years is required to be labeled with an age statement describing the actual age of the product. Other