vi5
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Wed Jan-19-05 08:21 AM
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Question about the shelf life of liquor.... |
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I was helping my parents clean out their basement and found a bottle of Chivas Regal and a bottle of Johnny Walker Red. Both of these are probably 10 years old but neither were opened. I'm a scotch drinker so I would use them, but not exactly sure of the physical properties of aging and such and if they'd still be any good.
Anyone have the answer to this? I suppose I could try them and see, but before I bothered I figured I'd check to see if there were a more straightforward answer on the subject.
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Feathered Fish
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Wed Jan-19-05 08:22 AM
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seriousstan
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Wed Jan-19-05 08:26 AM
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2. Hard alcohol doesn't go bad. If unopened it is good forever. |
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If opened it will evaporate. This is also true for beer, IF UNOPENED!! Beer WILL go bad if left open...DUH.
Have a good time with some well mellowed drinks.
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ixion
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Wed Jan-19-05 08:27 AM
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3. given that chivas is aged 12 years before it gets shipped |
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it's probably better now than it was then. ;-)
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CarpeVeritas
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Wed Jan-19-05 10:38 AM
Response to Reply #3 |
12. the 12 years refers to the time spent in wooden barrels |
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whisky doesn't "age" further in the bottle.
that being said- neither bottle is much of a prize. chivas is downright awful, and johnny red isn't johnny black.
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vi5
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Wed Jan-19-05 11:36 AM
Response to Reply #12 |
17. Nobody said they were prizes..... |
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But there's also no sense in throwing them away. I can enjoy a glass of $60 single malt, or a $10 bottle of blended scotch. Over time they will get drank so I was just wondering if I should bother throwing them away or not.
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Historic NY
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Wed Jan-19-05 08:29 AM
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4. Send it to me, I will sample and advise................... |
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:beer: should be good I've never found a bad bottle yet.
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vi5
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Wed Jan-19-05 08:30 AM
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5. Thanks for the input everyone. I will advise of results |
Ian David
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Wed Jan-19-05 08:32 AM
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6. They're probably fine, BUT... |
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Edited on Wed Jan-19-05 08:39 AM by IanDB1
I've found similar stuff in my grandparents' basement.
Including a bottle of Grommes & Ullrich Black Label Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (Pre-War distilled in 1942).
On the back is a yellow label that says: WE DELIVER Circle 6-0860 & 0861 Mid Manhattan Liquors, Inc. 8th Ave. at 45th St., N,Y,C, Kuc, L-239
It tasted great!
Anyway, a word of warning:
These old bottles use corks, and the corks dry-out!
I have a very difficult time getting the corks out of the bottle without them falling apart.
I have tried leaving the bottle upside down for a month before opening them, and that didn't work.
My suggestion: maybe one of those air-pressure powered gizmos they sell at Sharper Image (a Democrat-donating company) will open the bottle without getting cork in the bottle.
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ProfessorGAC
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Wed Jan-19-05 08:37 AM
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7. Liquor Doesn't Age In Bottles |
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There are a couple of things that can happen to open liquor. For one, since alcohol has a high vapor pressure, and boils fully at only about 78 celsius, opened liquor bottles will lose alcohol strength. Also, many of the flavor components (mostly aldehydes and ketones) will be lost, since these are low molecular weight organics that will also volatilize with time. The partial pressure will eventually come to equilibrium, so the concentrations can only go so low. (Leaving a bottle open, iow, will never make the proof go to zero.)
Also, if exposed to air long enough, some of the alcohol can oxidize to ethylaldehyde. This isn't any more toxic than the ethanol, but it tastes VERY different than the alcohol. So, you can start to get an weird taste from the liquor. (Think a licorice-y and sherryish taste.)
But, if the bottles are unopened, there is insufficient oxygen contact and interchange (mass transfer) to allow any appreciable chemical reaction due to oxidation. So, if left unopened, hard liquor is good, essentially indefinitely.
Sorry for the mini-chemistry lecture. (I used to teach quantum chemistry and quantum chemodynamics.) The Professor
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vi5
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Wed Jan-19-05 08:41 AM
Response to Reply #7 |
8. Hahaha...thanks for the lesson. |
Historic NY
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Wed Jan-19-05 08:46 AM
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9. The Professor is always right....so break them out and lets sample....n/t |
Ian David
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Wed Jan-19-05 09:43 AM
Response to Reply #9 |
10. Observation: You shouldn't freeze flavored vodka |
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I once put a bottle of Stoli Vanil in the freezer.
The Vanil part froze into sheets of crystals.
After thawing, it never re-mixed.
I was very sad.
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ProfessorGAC
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Wed Jan-19-05 10:42 AM
Response to Reply #10 |
13. It Will Remix With Temperature |
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The vanillin and derivatives are highly soluble in alcohol and fairly soluble in water. However, when something crystallizes out of solution, there is enthalpy that makes that "system" more stable. It takes new and additional energy to change the phase.
So, if you take a bottle like yours and put in a sink of hot water, and occasionally remove it and shake it up, the heat will add enough energy to destabilize the crystalline bonds and break them. (Plus the solvolysis effect of the water and alcohol.)
I hope you didn't junk the bottle of Stoli, because you could have saved it, good as new, the way i just described. The Professor
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Ian David
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Wed Jan-19-05 11:07 AM
Response to Reply #13 |
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With a professor like you, Gilligan would have gotten off the island quickly, and would have gotten drunk a lot more in the meantime.
And no, I didn't trash it.
I just shook it up well each time before I drank it, and it was pretty lame, but not terrible.
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BikeWriter
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Wed Jan-19-05 01:26 PM
Response to Reply #14 |
22. Don't heat it rapidly, of course. I'd open the lid to make sure... |
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There's room for any expansion.
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ProfessorGAC
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Wed Jan-19-05 02:04 PM
Response to Reply #22 |
24. Liquids Are Incompressible |
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Edited on Wed Jan-19-05 02:06 PM by ProfessorGAC
They don't expand and increase fluid pressure. Since the bottle isn't full, there won't be any pressure.
Secondly, hot tap water won't get hot enough to raise the overall bulk temperature to a point where anything gets to its boiling point. Remember that 55 - 60% of everything in there is water. The boiling point of that is 100, and the partial pressure can only be 55 - 60% of 760mmHg, even at the boiling point of water.
Everything else in there might have a lower boiling point but the mole fractions would be so low that the overall pressure contribution will be very small.
You will have to have hot water bordering on boiling which wouldn't happen off the faucet.
Just didn't want anybody to be scared to do this. The Professor
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Aiptasia
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Wed Jan-19-05 09:44 AM
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11. they should be drinkable |
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whiskeys can keep for a long long time. Enjoy!
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CarpeVeritas
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Wed Jan-19-05 11:11 AM
Response to Reply #11 |
15. i've never found chivas to be "drinkable" |
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and johnny red just barely.
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Magrittes Pipe
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Wed Jan-19-05 11:14 AM
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16. I know theoretically that unopened hard liquor will never go bad. |
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Empirically, I've never run into that situation. :toast:
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Wilber_Stool
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Wed Jan-19-05 11:43 AM
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18. Don't drink them. It could be dangerous. |
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Send them to me and I'll dispose of them properly.
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progressiveBadger
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Wed Jan-19-05 11:49 AM
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19. My great-grandfather was a bootlegger in WI |
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Well, my grandfather brought a bottle he had from him down one day, and he and my dad decided that it probably wasn't safe anymore. They dumped it out on the lawn and it killed a huge circle of grass.
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BikeWriter
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Wed Jan-19-05 11:53 AM
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20. I have a quart of Canadian Club dated 1978 I got in a raffle... |
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I'm saving it for a special event. :-)
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Jeff in Cincinnati
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Wed Jan-19-05 11:56 AM
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21. Fascinating Theoretical Discussion |
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Of course, I've never had a bottle of liquor last that long in my house, so this was all a moot point for me.
But fascinating, nonetheless. I mean, what earthly force could cause a person to go ten years without finishing a bottle of Scotch?!
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Liberal_and_proud
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Wed Jan-19-05 01:39 PM
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23. My Dad has a 2 bottles of Crown Royal |
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Both sealed. On one label is shows it bottled in 1962 and the other is 1967.
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Mon May 13th 2024, 12:54 PM
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