Liquor Age?

Liquor doesn't come with an expiration date. What's a good time to say Hasta La Vista to Liquor thats been sitting around for a while?

Distilled spirits essentially never go bad. Assuming storage in a reasonably temperate and dark place.

When your roomates break open the bottle of rum you've been saving since your trip to Barbados 3 years ago while you are at work on new years and you find the half empty bottle 3 weeks later they don't even like rum

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Liquor doesn't come with an expiration date. What's a good time to say Hasta La Vista to Liquor thats been sitting around for a while?

My eldest aunt bought the house she's in about ten-twelve years ago. Last summer, she found half of a HUGE bottle of Mark Twain in a crawlspace.

She threw it out. Near as I can figure, liquor never goes bad, it just gets smoother. If anything can live in 40% alcohol, I'd like to see it.

That's assuming that the bottle is tightly capped. The alcohol will evaporate out over time if it's imperfectly sealed, even if you keep it in the freezer.

I have a bottle of Cuban rum sitting around here somewhere.

Depends on what we're talking about. Bailey's? Throw it out. Pretty much anything and everything else is still good, assuming it was good in the first place.

About two years ago I had a bottle of Cutty Sark (Scotch) that was well over 20 years old, along with a bottle of Kahlua that was at least 10. Both were fine. (Kahlua is NOT a cream based liquor).

If it's been opened and the cap not sealed on tightly? The alcohol can evaporate and leave things tasting a bit...like resin or something. Really not pleasant.

Closed tightly? So far, undetermined.

I've been married for 27 years and I still have liquor left over from my stag. I'm a beer man.

Can't speak for liquor, but wine sours in a few months.

well, just to err on the side of caution better drink it all asap

For wine, I just look for the expiration date on the box.

A few years ago for my birthday a friend of mine gave me a shoe box FULL of little airplane bottles of liquor that his dad had for some reason or another. They were all about the same vintage, and the ones that were dated were from between 1955 and 1957. They were delicious.

what EvanR said, they won't go bad as long as they're stored in a cool, dark place. its a good idea to keep those crown royal bags, for if you have a particularly fancy/expensive bottle that you want to keep for a while.

i had a $300 bottle of cask strength single malt given to me that kept fine for a couple of years in a crown bag, until it was finally finished off.

Shared a 30+ year old bottle of Crown Royal with a buddy. It had sat, unopened in his parents bar. It was mighty tasty.

Throw out a bottle of liquor because it's old? What are you, nuts?

One percenters buy that E36 M3 like crazy.

http://www.bornrich.com/worlds-largest-collection-250-year-liquor-auction.html

Curmudgeon wrote: One percenters buy that E36 M3 like crazy. http://www.bornrich.com/worlds-largest-collection-250-year-liquor-auction.html

I thought you were talking about these guys:

funny this topic comes up today. Look what popped up on the news:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/century-whiskey-bottles-found-missouri-mans-attic/story?id=16716832#.T_XEKPVFk44

No expiration date whatsoever. That's why it tastes like it does

Edit: But according to Lew Bryson, if it's open, it can oxidize. Didn't know that. I have many-years-old open bottles of liquor that taste fine. Whatever.

CGLockRacer wrote: funny this topic comes up today. Look what popped up on the news: http://abcnews.go.com/US/century-whiskey-bottles-found-missouri-mans-attic/story?id=16716832#.T_XEKPVFk44

A couple years ago some people in Minneapolis were having their house remodeled, and the carpenters found a cache of liquor in a secret compartment under a staircase that had been there since Prohibition. I forget the details but they were able to sell some of the bottles for a substantial sum.

16vCorey wrote: A few years ago for my birthday a friend of mine gave me a shoe box FULL of little airplane bottles of liquor that his dad had for some reason or another. They were all about the same vintage, and the ones that were dated were from between 1955 and 1957. They were delicious.

I'd almost have kept them out of awesomeness... but it's hard to beat drinking liquor that's older than you. I bet they looked cool too.

I recently polished off a bottle of Crown Royal that I had opened 12 years ago. It came with me through 2 house moves. I have re-discovered whiskey.

mndsm wrote:

16vCorey wrote: A few years ago for my birthday a friend of mine gave me a shoe box FULL of little airplane bottles of liquor that his dad had for some reason or another. They were all about the same vintage, and the ones that were dated were from between 1955 and 1957. They were delicious.

I'd almost have kept them out of awesomeness... but it's hard to beat drinking liquor that's older than you. I bet they looked cool too.

I thought about it, then I came to a compromise and kept some of the empty bottles.

I know they say that liquor stops aging when it leaves the barrel, but even the really cheap whiskey was REALLY good. Or maybe "Old Grand-Dad" and "Wild Turkey" was made to a higher standard in the mid 50's. I don't know the reason, but it was awesome.

I've had Cognac that was 150 years old...

I have a bottle (actually more of a ceramic cask) of Bushmill's that was opened probably in the 60's or 70's. It tastes good, but not...right. Definitely not like Bushmills, almost like some of these new 'honey' whiskies that seem to be getting popular among the WOOOO SHOTS crowd. I sip it every now and then, but it aint exactly whisky.