Comments on: How are you storing your whisky?

By: mongo

mongo — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:45:54 +0000

another storage question, and this has to do with light and bottles that are not in boxes or tubes. this comes up because a couple of recent shipments (from stores in st. louis and costa mesa) arrived without the original packaging. while they were securely packed in nifty styrofoam containers i would have liked the original packaging too (which binny’s and astor never fail to include in shipments). anyway, i too keep opened bottles in my bar and unopened ones as well as the special stash elsewhere. the special stash is in a dark closet, but there’s not enough extra room in there for every single tube/box less bottle; so they have to be on the shelves that house the regular unopened bottles. these shelves don’t get direct sunlight, and indeed the room as a whole does not get direct sunlight, only a few hours of dappled sunlight during the morning. is this still too much light for these exposed bottles? an alternative might be to put them in the tubes/boxes of now empty bottles but i don’t really want to do that unless i absolutely have to. these are not bottles that will sit around for years and years, by the way–they’ll probably be gone within a year.

By: nick

nick — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:10:18 +0000

Is there a way you can continue aging bottled whiskey by putting it back into a cask? or is that impossible to do once it has been cut and bottled? Any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:55:52 +0000

My father loved his whiskey and kept it in a locked room in the basement. he was the only one with a key. However since his passing I have inherited the task of cleaning out years of history. Can anyone tell me anything about “Sam Thompson Straight Rye Whiskey” 86 proof the bottle is still sealed it also says on the bottle “The Sam Thompson Pure Rye Whiskey Distilling Co. Aladdin Pa”. The Pa state liquor control seal has the years 1971-1972. There’s a lot more. I want to put this and several other bottles and decanters I found on ebay but need help determining the value. I know there are a lot of collectors on ebay and my hope is if valued properly these bottles will go to someone who share the same passion and respect for whisky as he did.

By: Scotch - How to Store Scotch Whisky | The Aspiring Gentleman

Scotch - How to Store Scotch Whisky | The Aspiring Gentleman — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:11:18 +0000

[...] particularly those that are kept open for a long time. John Hansell, a leading whisky expert, advocates the use of wine preservers – those bottles of compressed inert gases that you spray into the [...]

By: John Hansell

John Hansell — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:38:02 +0000

Richard, you should store and drink your whisky at room temperature. Whisky expresses itself best at room temperature.

Having said this, if you want your whisky ice cold (and there actually might be situations where this is beneficial, but it is rare) then go for it. You bought it, it’s your whisky, so drink it how you like it.

By: Richard Cullis

Richard Cullis — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:16:34 +0000

I did a google search for ways to store whiskey, and found this tread, what I wanted to know was, If I store whiskey that I am drinking, and not putting away, can I keep it in the freezer. I was served, frozen Johnny walker Black and Chocolate truffles at a restaurant, and it tasted mighty good. I have now put a bottle of Johnny Walker Green in the Freezer. I like my whiskey neat, no ice, and now have the best of both worlds, ice cold whiskey, and no ice. but is this bad for the whiskey?

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:02:14 +0000

I’m largely with Chuck and Gary Gillman on this (when am I not?!): mostly, it doesn’t matter that much as long as you don’t let an open bottle languish 30 years (and why would you?).
No bottle is every “part-empty”, but rather partially full of air/oxygen. Still, I’ve never found a truly “off” bottle of American whiskey of any age — except a 375ml that sat at the front of a sun-lit shelf for more than 20 years before I purchased it. The identical bottle behind it was sublime.

By: John Hansell

John Hansell — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 02:05:53 +0000

Whisky dude: I don’t have the two locked metal doors, but I do have a motion detector alarm system wired into ADT. Anyone who attempts to go after my 1973 Longrows or Green Springbanks better think twice.

By: whisky dude

whisky dude — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:30:50 +0000

The rules for good storage are simple, based on the maxim “know thy enemies” – and your enemies are oxygen, sunlight, temperature variation, and theft. For my open stock, I use inert gas, usually Private Reserve and I use it liberally. It works. I have a delicate Glenfiddich purchased in 1994 that I have dram of once a year – it has held up very well. For unopened bottles. I use a wax sealing tape. This works. Dipping in paraffin wax also works but it is messy. Regarding light, I keep my whisky out of the light, and in the basement with an average temp of about 70 degrees that varies by about 3 degrees. And I don’t advertise that I have stored whisky to lessen the chances of theft, and the basement is protected by two locked metal doors and an alarm system. Last, I keep them upright to protect the cork.

By: Harvey Fry

Harvey Fry — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:20:44 +0000

well, B.J., if you (& John H.) could somehow transport yourself to D.C. this winter, we could have a 1st ever DEAD SOLDIERS SEND OFF to get things
going in a part 2 of our annual single malt collectors from all over th’place tasting shenanigans= usually a 3 day weekend affair with a couple or 3 of
you interlopers + a few local stalwarts. for Saturday, i’m thinking maybe a PE blowout featuring an ’82 bottled (’03) for th’Scotch Single Malt Circle
(easily th’best sherrywood Islay in my collection) + 7 Signatory bottlings of 23 year olds (cask 5268 + sequential casks 5338 thru 5343) from ’78.
though i have NONE of th’OB’s, there’re at least 15 other PE beauties just
languishing^ here. Sunday can go anywhere we want it to.

perhaps th’biggest problem with my obsessive flat out, full tilt collecting is
th’collection itself: think about it= beyond th’never ending learning aspect
of anything, th’accumulation of experience itself leads to an evolution of taste. because your time is finite, at some point each additional choice comes to rule out th’return to previous ones. when you have to choose
YOU DO. sure, it’s nice to be able to tune up your memory & th’stuff is always there for others, but, from th’commanding heights of every time
on th’time looking down on all those soldiers waiting for orders, it’s clear
as any empty bottle most of ‘em’ll never see another dram of action

By: John Hansell

John Hansell — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:20:38 +0000

I think we can all agree on one thing: When you get down to, say 1/3 or 1/4 of a bottle, it’s time to invite over some good friends and finish the bottle. It’s not worth taking the risk of letting it sit around. Anyone who’s ever been in my bar can confirm that there are no whiskies 1/4 full or less to be found.

Often, I’ll take a bottle like that to a party of like-minded individuals and we’ll all have a dram or to. That’s a nice way to finish off the bottle too.

By: B.J. Reed

B.J. Reed — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:39:59 +0000

I agree about decline in quality certainly once the bottle is less than half full – I have tasted Harvey’s vatted malts and they are terrific but he has a tad bit larger collection to play with then I do.

Still, you really have to decide whether to hold on to that favorite malt when you know it simply will not be the same once its been open awhile – Better to share with friends and wish it a fond farewell.

By: John Hansell

John Hansell — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:18:53 +0000

Gary, I occasionally do the “moisten the cork” thing too to help keep it from drying out, but I have not been very consistent with it. More likely I am “reactive” versus “proactive” on this topic and replace a broken cork with a new one if necessary.

I hope to get down to next year’s Kentucky Bourbon Festival and hang out with all of you straightbourbon.com guys for a while. Cheers!

By: Gray Gillman

Gray Gillman — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:11:59 +0000

Interesting thread. Here is what I have found to work. I store all bottles upright and the corks should be tight. Sometimes I’ll replace a cork with a spare one (from any kind of spirits bottle except no Islay corks for non-Scotch!) to ensure a tighter seal. Occasionally over time I will shake the bottle a bit to moisten the bottom of the cork. I think this helps the storage but I can’t prove it.

I keep them in ambient room (apartment) temperature but out of (usually) direct sunlight.

I throw away presentation tubes, cartons and wooden boxes upon getting the bottles home. I believe off-odours from the materials in them can enter the whiskey if stored in same too long.

I agree with many posters than bottles with a heel of spirit sometimes go off, acquiring a metallic taste that is sure sign of oxidation. Still, I think a bottle down to about a third can generally be safely stored.

Full bottles can oxidize too if the bottle cap or cork is not too tight, but this will take decades. A moist all-round atmosphere will certainly retard this as Sam K noted, and perhaps that is why my trick of keeping the corks moist works (sometimes I just put them under the tap, e.g., if the spirit level is down in the bottle and I don’t want to “disturb” it any further).

As Chuck said, whisky is a hardy thing, and apart from a few precautions I think it can be knocked around a bit and still be good – perhaps even get better, as that comment about placing Drumguish on a radiator suggests!

Regards, John, and it was great seeing Lew at KBF recently.

Gary

By: Harvey Fry

Harvey Fry — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:30:02 +0000

TH’AIR IS TH’ENEMY= if you open a bottle & pour even a finger-
face it, th’magic is on it’s way to whisk(e)yheaven^. we’ve done experiments where we’ve opened one of two otherwise identical
bottles- simply pulled & immediately replaced th’cork on th’1st;
let both sit overnight- then opened & compared. IN ALL CASES
THERE WAS A FAIR DIFFERENCE. from distillery/expression to
d/e there’s a lot of variation. older items are generally more
vulnerable + we found Rosebanks to be almost like wine. in
th’course of collecting over 1800 single malt + about 200 other
whisk(e)y expressions- over 95% opened/tasted- i think the
Private Preserve gas is helpful, BUT……….^, EVEN BETTER:
1. FEATURE IT: arrange tastings around items approaching
a level of 75-70%. if you haven’t th’resources for a structured
(single distillery/ regional/ independent bottler/ age based, etc.)
approach, random assortments can be fun, especially tasted
blind. for all that, just leaving th’bottle(s) you wish departed in
a prominent (say, with glasses) spot on a table might attract
th’appropriate attention.
2. VAT IT: take any 2 or more endangered species & MIX=
OUT your secret alchemist^ i’ve been doing this for more than
4 years now &, believe it or not, I’VE LEARNED MORE ABOUT
WHAT’S IN TH’BOTTLES than i did in all th’previous decades of
serious drinking. + bring your friends & tasting buddies into
th’excitement= they’ll love you for sharing a thing they can’t
get any other way. presently, i have over 150 litres in play-
more than 50 works in progress &, once you get over th’great
sacred boogies of reverent rumpillstillskins, there’s this huge
fun of actually making something that somehow brings you into
th’grand loop of th’STUFF ITS sELF!
3. SEND OUT A STANDING INVITATION TO B. J. REED, BILLY
MEYERS, JOHN NAVARRA or any other serious collector/drinker
WHO CAN BE DEPENDED ON TO KEEP ON KEEPING ON UNTIL
ALL TH’WORK IS DONE^.
4. IN OTHER WORDS: IT DON”T KEEP WORTH A WORT= DRINK
UP-DOWN-ALLAROUND-OVER-UNDER-THRU> THA’SWHA’SMA’FA,
T’AIN’NOMO’.
5. fergitaboutmarbles & avoid screw tops like th’plague