Unusual question regarding vintage Jack Daniels.

[doghouse]

I wasn't sure where to put this..

A relative of mine found a 1/10th of a pint Jack Daniels 90 proof whiskey bottle. It's unopened and still has the original tax seal. Originally I was going to ask for help dating it, but I came across a collectors site. Apparently it was bottled in 1973. It's not worth much, as there are many mini bottles from those years floating around.

So, my husband's crazy question is.. can you actually DRINK whiskey that old or would it make you seriously ill?

I guess he can't help but be curious, haha.

Thanks

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Drink up. I have some booze from the 60s that I drink and haven't gotten sick so far.

 

[Mr. Lucky]

Draink up. I have some booze from the 60s that I drink and haven't gotten sick so far.

Well, then, you're just not drinking ENOUGH of it!

 

[doghouse]

Drink up. I have some booze from the 60s that I drink and haven't gotten sick so far.

Thanks!

 

[Mike in Seattle]

One of the big things with Scotch & Bourbown (which are both different types of whiskey) is they get better with age. Some brands aren't sold until they're at least 20 years old.

 

[scotrace]

Others may correct me but I'm certain that hard liquor (whiskey) does not age at all in the bottle, as does wine. The quality and characteristics of the liquid are set and finished before it is bottled.

100 year old bottle of whiskey, cognac, vodka, etc, if it has not seen extremes of temperature or been exposed to air, should be fine to drink.

The same does not hold true of wine. The old theoretical custom of putting down a case of wine on the birth of a child, to be drunk at the child's wedding, is risky unless you have the perfect storage situation at hand for all 20+ years. Even then, some of the bottles would probably "turn."

I have a bottle of "blush" wine from Monticello that was bottled in 1984 and has not been well stored. It looks like vinegar... with lots of floaties.

 

[scotrace]

One of the big things with Scotch & Bourbown (which are both different types of whiskey) is they get better with age. Some brands aren't sold until they're at least 20 years old.

Yes but they do their aging in the cask. Once bottled, they're done.

 

[BellyTank]

Hey Scot-

...you're right.
People who keep 16yr old Single Malt in the cabinet are crazy-
Straight into the decanter it goes!

Although, I once found an antique bottle of Brandy in my basement.
I couldn't read the text on the label but there was a picture of a Hospital-
I think it was a Hospital.

Maybe it was Grown-ups' medicine.

B
T

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The same does not hold true of wine. The old theoretical custom of putting down a case of wine on the birth of a child, to be drunk at the child's wedding, is risky unless you have the perfect storage situation at hand for all 20+ years. Even then, some of the bottles would probably "turn."

Well, that is why one has a wine cellar under the mansion.

Yeah, whiskey's for drinkin'. No ageing in bottles (unless it's leaching some minerals out of the glass). All in the casks.

But, hmmm, i guess if you have a bad seal the microorganisms can get into liquor as it does wine. Anyone had a corked whiskey?

bk

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Good to know...now I guess I get to rain on the parade of some friends who bought 10 case of Scotch five years ago and stored them away so they'd have "smooth, beautifully aged 20 year old Scotch at a fraction of the price" in a few years. Can't wait till the next time they try rubbing that in our faces. And it's often.

 

[scotrace]

There is one place that it is inadvisable to have the fermentation process restarted - in your stomach.

Beware too many tipples made with sweet mixers.

A woman in town (not "of the town"...) nearby bought a large Victorian and there was a barrel of port in the cellar. There was no way to know how old it was but it was very, very fine stuff for sure.

I wonder too, BK, if the seal on a whiskey bottle were corrupted if the contents would be also?

BT - How was the stuff anyway??

 

[scotrace]

Ha! I'd let 'em have it good Mike!. If you buy a bottle of 5-year-old scotch today, and put it down for twenty years, it would still be 5-year-old scotch.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The question would be if the bugs could stand the high alc/low nutrient content. Bottle of whiskey with a couple billion dead bacteria forming a scum on the surface. Euuuchhh

bk

 

[scotrace]

The question would be if the bugs could stand the high alc/low nutrient content. Bottle of whiskey with a couple billion dead bacteria forming a scum on the surface. Euuuchhh

bk

That's the Top Shelf at frat houses...

 

[Absinthe_1900]

This is over 60 years old and most definitely drinkable.

If properly stored 100+ year old Absinthe is an incredible experience, I've
had vintage Pernod fils absinthe that was exquisite.

Absinthe can age quite well in a bottle.

 

[Mike K.]

Related topic...

During the prohibition days, folks supposedly made liquor runs across frozen stretches of the Great Lakes. For all you scuba divers out there, I was informed of a wreck that lies in about 50ft of water. It's a truck that was full of aged scotch when it went through the ice. Now that aged scotch is even more aged and perfectly preserved in the chilled depths. For those who know where the dive site is located, there are some fine drinks to be had!

Aged Jack Daniels? Bottoms up!
:cheers1:

 

[doghouse]

Wish I lived close enough to that dive site to investigate. I've only had good scotch a few times.

 

[Fletch]

I've had 30+ year old brandy and port and survived just fine. Maybe better!

 

[Kt Templar]

There is a cognac on the market "L'Espirit de Courvoisier" that is made up of various vintages starting at the youngest being 70 years old going right back to some from the Napoleonic era. You don't have to worry about the few decades old spirts. I currently retails for $7000 a bottle.

Of course give it a smell, give it a taste, you'll usually know if it is off.

As for smoothness in the bottle, I can only vouch for some I have tried... I sampled some regular Remy Martin VSOP that we'd had for 20+ years it was smoother than any XO I have had. After that when I come back from travelling I always buy something special put it at the back of the cupboard and move the previous one forward. That way it get's a few years to "settle" .

 

[jamespowers]

Scott is a fine gentleman and an excellent judge of good whiskey and scotch. There is no such thing as aging the stuff in the bottle. It is distilled and not fermented in the wine sense. Take it out of the barrel and it goes nowhere. It also makes me laugh when people have whiskey or scotch that is over 10-12 years old and think they have something great.

Let me help the fools. Scotch and whisky (whiskey) can actually deteriorate beyond twelve years. I have tasted much of it that was twenty years old and well past its prime. That same barrel would have been great five or ten years before. I forget the brand names but I noticed this when taste testing scotch from scotland. Downing a Speyside 12 YO now. :cheers1:

Regards,

J