Old bottles of whisky

TimTom

TimTom

TimTom

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Joined
18 Mar 2016
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176
Any whisky connoisseurs on here?

I have a few unopened bottles of whisky which I have had for probably around 20 years during which time they've just been kept in a display cabinet. I'm not really a whisky drinker and I believe they were all gifts at various times.

One is a small green triangular-shaped bottle of Glenfiddich special reserve which is probably the oldest and I may have had it for close to 30 years, although there is no date printed on the label.

There is also a bottle of Famous Grouse malt whisky which says 'aged 10 years' and I reckon I was given that about 20 years back. I've also got a bottle of a similar aged Black Bush.

Are they worth keeping or do people "collect" these type of drinks?
 
The conventional wisdom is that whisky doesn't mature in the bottle so your Famous Grouse is still a 10 year old drink despite you having had it for 20 years.

Someone might want to buy them for the curiosity value or because they like them but I suspect that you probably wouldn't sell them for much more than the price of the equivalent new bottle.
 
Drink them, don't sell them. Then wash them down with a kebab. Take a clothes peg into the loo the next day as the smell is toxic! ;)
 
You could take a look on here: https://www.just-whisky.co.uk/

It's a whisky auction site and you can look through the results of previous auctions.

However, what you seem to be describing are fairly run of the mill releases. Whisky doesn't improve in the bottle. A malt bottled at 10 years old, 30 years ago, is still classed as 10 year old malt.

There is money to be made from well regarded releases that eventually become rare. Perhaps that Glenfiddich might be worth something if it turns out to be from a decent era but 'special reserve' is Glenfiddich's code for 'bog standard release' (as in specially reserved for use as a single malt - not shoved into a blend).

Not being an expert, but having a little knowledge, I'd say you might make back a little more than what they sold for 20-30 years ago. So not really worth selling. Perhaps better to pass them to someone that likes whisky as a gift.
 
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Your Glenfiddich is perhaps more interesting than the Famous Grouse but neither are objectively better than they were when first bottled. So basically what semi-pro waster said.

semi-pro waster said:
The conventional wisdom is that whisky doesn't mature in the bottle so your Famous Grouse is still a 10 year old drink despite you having had it for 20 years.

Someone might want to buy them for the curiosity value or because they like them but I suspect that you probably wouldn't sell them for much more than the price of the equivalent new bottle.
Click to expand...
 
It's a Famous Grouse malt though (not their base level blend).

Probably worth looking it up - as it's a little out of the ordinary. Some Famous Grouse malts have been pretty decent.
 
bsoltan said:
There is a whisky thread in La Cuisine that those with a good whisky knowledge frequent:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18016954

Can you post pictures of the bottles?

I don't know if you use Reddit, but for getting info I'd also recommend:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Scotch/
https://www.reddit.com/r/whisky/
Click to expand...

I don't know how to post pictures!

Thanks for all the comments. I wasn't particularly looking to sell them (unless they're worth decent money, of course!!) but I just wondered whether to keep them as I'm hardly likely to drink them myself.
 
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