I recently inherited a cabinet thats full of different wiskeys and bourbins. Some are half full bottles. Is there a shelf life on this stuff? I know some of it may be as old as 30 years. I am a very light sipper at most but I hate to just throw some of this out if its still good.

mine has an average shelf life of about 4 days

If you have any doubts, send the stuff to me!

Alcohol is a preservative.
As long as the caps are tight it won't spoil.

Drink the rest of each bottle, record the results, repeat for each bottle. Make sure to tumble and sort the bottles before putting them away. Enjoy

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
mine has an average shelf life of about 4 days

It should be OK. Just give each bottle a look, is is cloudy? Is their sedimend in the bottom of the bottle?

Then of course give it a small taste.

Wine can go bad, but usually Liquor does not.

If you are storing any beverage for a long time, that has a real cork stopper it is a good idea to store it so the cork stays "wet".

The one catch for shelf life is it needs to stored out of direct sunlight,, if it has been in a dark cabinet and relatively moderate temps it should be "safe" to drink, but the quality may fade with time with certain aged spirits. After 5 or 6 drinks you probably won't notice it that much though,,,,,,

Shelf life? Booze has a shelf life??? Who knew? I simply drink it till it's gone, then go buy another bottle...

When Dad retired, he and Mom moved to Air Force Village in San Antonio. They had a bunch of friends from Dad's 32 years in the Air Corp. and Air Force.
As the old guys died off the hooch was passed on to one or the other guys. Dad's hooch closet looked like a well stocked liquor store. I'd bet there was 200 plus bottles, partial and full.
I'm sure the fellow that inherited the hooch, when Dad died, would have to use one of the spare bedroons to store it in.
Some day Air Force Village will run out of WWII, Korean vets and some of the younger guys will have to take up the slack.

Jim

I am sure the whiskey is fine, but the shelf's life may be limited depending on the weight it is supporting.

What makes you think it ever reaches the shelf?


Coons are lightweights, I can take 'em the best three out of four.

GWB

My experiments have determined that any alcohol in my laboratory has a shelf life of only a few hours after entering the test facility. It turned out to be the strangest of liquids. Once it was introduced to the testing process it would quickly vanish then more would appear only to quickly vanish again. The process escalated with such frequency that the test equipment soon broke down and the experimentaion could not be continued due to cost factors and wear and tear on the test equipment. Be careful with that liquid, the process can become all encompassing until all that the scientist has time for is experimentation.

quote:

could not be continued due to cost factors and wear and tear on the test equipment.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:

quote:

could not be continued due to cost factors and wear and tear on the test equipment.

Unfortunately this is all too true; my testing apparatus has recently been given a thorough inspection by an expert on such installations (my doctor).
One of the major components (the "liver" as he calls it) is currently showing signs of fatigue & his recommendation is that all sampling be reduced to a maximum of 20 single samples per week.
Oh woe is me...
One can only hope

quote:

Originally posted by Oddbod:

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:

quote:

could not be continued due to cost factors and wear and tear on the test equipment.

Unfortunately this is all too true; my testing apparatus has recently been given a thorough inspection by an expert on such installations (my doctor).
One of the major components (the "liver" as he calls it) is currently showing signs of fatigue & his recommendation is that all sampling be reduced to a maximum of 20 single samples per week.
Oh woe is me...
One can only hope

What do you do on the second day?

quote:

Originally posted by Swamp_Fox:

quote:

Originally posted by Oddbod:

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:

quote:

could not be continued due to cost factors and wear and tear on the test equipment.

Unfortunately this is all too true; my testing apparatus has recently been given a thorough inspection by an expert on such installations (my doctor).
One of the major components (the "liver" as he calls it) is currently showing signs of fatigue & his recommendation is that all sampling be reduced to a maximum of 20 single samples per week.
Oh woe is me...
One can only hope

What do you do on the second day?

Watch the flying pink elephants whilst shaking gently.

All testing of said liquid has been halted due to test equipment being used for other high priority experiments. We at the laboratory have found a high margin of interest in examination of devices used for perforation of biological medium. It seems punching little holes in meaty animals from great distance has a general interest among certain members of the population.

Don't take any chances, drink it all by Saturday, May 21st. You don't want this on your conscience if the fruitcake in Chicago is correct and the world comes to an end...

Rich

Great thread! This recently came up at my Dad's house. My brother and I used to buy my dad Bourbon as gifts. We would buy stuff he would not- mostly due to price. Anyway, this stuff has been sitting in his attic forever. He is 92 yrs old. I'm 57 and my brother is 64. We bought this stuff when we became legal age! Anyway he gets one out of the storage the other day. It's Very Old Fitzgerald. 90 proof and the bottle says aged 8 yrs. It had some sediment on the bottom. Then the cork fell apart when we opened it.
End result: Tasted pretty good-LOL.

I've never known hootch to go bad, but then again, it seems that single malt scotch, good rum and vodka never seem to last around here...

On my shelf? Not a lot of life.....

So it seems that some even have a shelf?????????

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Don't take any chances, drink it all by Saturday, May 21st. You don't want this on your conscience if the fruitcake in Chicago is correct and the world comes to an end...

Rich

I've just finished the last drop of alcohol I had in the house. Sending out for more.
See what I can keep from going to waste between now and the 22nd. And as always, I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

Best
GWB