Does whiskey deteriorate in an open bottle?

[sku]

I ran a two year experiment to determine how much whiskey deteriorates in an open bottle. The results seem to confirm the old saw that once a bottle is less than half full, you should probably drink it within two years.

http://recenteats.blogspot.com/2011/03/whiskey-wednesday-whiskey-age-and.html

[jcg9779]

I ran a two year experiment to determine how much whiskey deteriorates in an open bottle. The results seem to confirm the old saw that once a bottle is less than half full, you should probably drink it within two years.

http://recenteats.blogspot.com/2011/03/whiskey-wednesday-whiskey-age-and.html

This is all the scientific proof that I need to finish off those bottles that I have sitting around!

[roostercogburn]

Thanks for taking the time to conduct a long-term experiment and do a full write-up, sku. I've enjoyed reading your blog for some time now, largely because of quality posts like these.

Whiskey deterioration has long been a concern of mine and has probably scared me into not having more than maybe 10 bottles open at a time, which seriously restricts the comparison tasting I enjoy.

[sku]

Thanks for taking the time to conduct a long-term experiment and do a full write-up, sku. I've enjoyed reading your blog for some time now, largely because of quality posts like these.

Whiskey deterioration has long been a concern of mine and has probably scared me into not having more than maybe 10 bottles open at a time, which seriously restricts the comparison tasting I enjoy.

Thanks rooster. You can always do what Jason suggests in the comments and empty your low fill bottles into smaller bottles to cut out the oxygen.

[callmeox]

Why teaser posts here instead of entire blog entries?

[sku]

Why teaser posts here instead of entire blog entries?

I thought it was a bit long to post here.

[White Dog]

Another title for his thread could be, "Does Whiskey improve for many months after being open before it begins to deteriorate?" I would say yes. Especially ORVW10yr, Pappy 15, and FR1BLE.

And while they did improve with oxygen exposure, those bottles never stick around long enough for me to know whether they deteriorate.:grin: :grin:

[BigRich]

This is all the scientific proof that I need to finish off those bottles that I have sitting around!

[OscarV]

once a bottle is less than half full, you should probably drink it within two years.

If it is a "special" bottle that I want to have around for a while I'll pour it into several 200ml bottles to keep the air out.

That way I can enjoy the original taste and guests seem to appreciate the effort also.

[jmpyle]

Great post Sku! It's cool to see someone take it to that level so we all can benefit from it. Well done.

[chefnash51]

Great stuff - I love seeing results from experiments like this.

I just posted this in the "stash" thread where white dog saw I had wine preserver in my pic and asked if I use it for whiskey.

Decided to share as this thread touches on this as well. I know it's been discussed before here but:

Sure do. I for whatever reason really seem to pick up on oxidation. Don't get me wrong there are ones that I let breathe longer before I gas. Most wheaters for example.

But I wanted to be able to have as many opened as I wanted without ever having to worry about the profiles changing too drastically. It's relatively cheap (bought a case of 12).

I've been using this method for several years and the results have been great. Since using it I have never had an off bottle.

I also take it a step further and often bottle the last 4 oz into a little 4 oz glass bottle, and stick a label on it. This has only slightly helped the nagging feeling to quickly replace a finished bottle. But also good for:

- going back to for comparison

- having little treats ready to go if the need should arise

- giving to friends to sample