Obviously, there are exceptions in every direction and not all whiskeys are made the same, but bourbon is probably a lot closer to "barrel strength" than you th

Obviously, there are exceptions in every direction and not all whiskeys are made the same, but bourbon is probably a lot closer to "barrel strength" than you think, it's a big part of why older bourbons are generally more expensive (higher proof, lower volume). Most bourbons aren't sold at barrel strength simply because they are blends of multiple barrels. To my understanding, for bourbon any water added to the product is generally done prior to aging in the barrel. After that most of bottle proof comes from blending different ages of bourbon (because barrel ABV generally increases with age due to the angel's share and other factors) or different barrels of the same age that started at different (water cut) proofs to begin with (depending on the type of bourbon and its age statements). On the factor of age, it is my understanding 60-70% ABV is expected for something closer to 7-10 year old bourbon and 3-5 years old (which is often the majority) is "naturally" closer to that 45-50% you see in the majority of bottles on store shelves.