Full Beam, WT decanters question

[Enoch]

I stopped in an old liquor store that had a 200+ hundred full/sealed Beam and WT decanters. The owner said he would sell them for whatever price sticker was on them, Usually very low as it was put on them when he got them for the store. The beams were either 100, 150, or 180 month. Not sure what the WT were except in the shape of a turkey.

Any suggestions about these? I ask because when I toured the WT distillery a couple of years ago the tour guide said we shouldn't drink liquor out of old WT decanters because of lead leaching into the bourbon from the decanter glaze. The reason they were discontinued.

[BourbonJoe]

Don't know about Turkey but old Beam out of decanters is good stuff.

Joe :usflag:

[ethangsmith]

Buying full decanters to drink is a risk. Trust me, I know. I collect Michter's decanters and whenever I get one that the cork is loose, damaged, or leaking, I drain the whiskey out for later consumption. I've had to drain at least 2 dozen decanters and out of those, only about half still contained drinkable whiskey. Most had oxidized or became contaminated because of bad sealing of the cork or the porous nature of the ceramic decanter. If you get a decanter that stayed sealed, the whiskey inside will still be clear and good but may taste a little stale. I've only had about 3 or 4 Michter's decanters that I've emptied that the whiskey inside was still perfect. Just some things to be aware of.

[unclebunk]

Don't know about Turkey but old Beam out of decanters is good stuff.

Joe :usflag:

That's been my experience too with Beam juice. The 8 and 10 year old whiskey was excellent.

[callmeox]

I've had good luck with the two Beam decanters that I opened. The one with the plastic screw cap was much better than the one with the cork but the bourbon was tasty and not like modern Beam at all, IMO.

I also acquired a cork sealed 1969 Heaven Hill decanter that was phenomenal. I think that DeanSheen would concur as he was in the group that killed it in one sitting.

[Guest wripvanwrinkle]

I've decanted a WT from the early 80's, and it was really, really, good. I'm somewhat doubtful that enough lead would leach out to have any noticeable effect...but in the name of science I will run a test. We are probably talking something like elevated levels in fish...rather than paint chips...right?

[sutton]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass#Safety

You might want to read this ... I would assume that quite a high level of lead would have leached out of the crystal given the time period you're talking about.

[DeanSheen]

I also acquired a cork sealed 1969 Heaven Hill decanter that was phenomenal. I think that DeanSheen would concur as he was in the group that killed it in one sitting.

Yeah, that was pretty good juice.

Thanks again Scott for taking one for the team on that one. Unfortunately for you the team was comprised of booze hounds without booze...... till you showed up with your sacrifice!

I still can't believe that store was closed @ 8:00 p.m.!

[MJL]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass#Safety

You might want to read this ... I would assume that quite a high level of lead would have leached out of the crystal given the time period you're talking about.

[sutton]

With a very few exceptions American spirits makers tended to bottle in stonewear or glazed pottery decanters.

[BBQ+Bourbon]

If any of the Beam decanters have a screw top, buy them. They are actually glass bottles with metallic finish sprayed on the outside and the whiskey is very good. The whiskey in ceramic Beam decanters is pretty funky if you ask me and I've had several of each kind.

[jcg9779]

I stopped in a store the other day that had three WT decanters, but the price was around $130 for the cheapest one. Because of that I didn't even pull it down to examine. Is this price normal? Is there any situation where this price would be worth it (a specific year, bottling, etc)?