When do you decide a bottle needs to be finished off?

[MtnDew]

Dang, that's a great idea, transfer at the opening of a bottle. I'm going to copy!

Until recently I had been hesitant to finish limited edition and bottles I don't have a backup because I find myself revisiting, sometimes years later, and finding that my palate and/or memory has changed and thus my opinion. A recommendation from ChainWhip led to a purchase of 2oz glass bottles from specialtybottles.com which solved that problem. I don't even wait for a bottle to get low, I open a fresh one and transfer 2oz, then I don't mind killing it. There will always be more good stuff out there and I don't mind evolving with the industry, I just want to maintain a glimpse of the past.

Now I look forward to an empty bottle because it opens up room for more.

[rndenks]

When I see it on a shelf at the store.

[Richnimrod]

I really hadn't given this too much thought. I guess I do tend to bring some into a "more often poured" rotation once they hit about 20% full. But, I think it's because I want the shelf space as much as it is to finish it off.

Speaking of Bourbon changing over time; my experience (with the exception of one bottle of 4-R Sm.B.L.E.) I've never had one go noticeably downhill. I've had a few 'bad corks'; but even that didn't seem to spoil the Bourbon. I just decanted the liquid and it was fine. I will also say; one bottle I experienced the opposite... A bottle of Pappy-23 I was unimpressed with on the first few pours and, therefor left aside to impress friends, became wonderful after about a year on the shelf around 2/3 full. Go Figure.

[AaronWF]

Deleted via Tapatalk.

[bllygthrd]

Until recently I had been hesitant to finish limited edition and bottles I don't have a backup because I find myself revisiting, sometimes years later, and finding that my palate and/or memory has changed and thus my opinion. A recommendation from ChainWhip led to a purchase of 2oz glass bottles from specialtybottles.com which solved that problem. I don't even wait for a bottle to get low, I open a fresh one and transfer 2oz, then I don't mind killing it. There will always be more good stuff out there and I don't mind evolving with the industry, I just want to maintain a glimpse of the past.

Now I look forward to an empty bottle because it opens up room for more.

Great idea ...

WRT finishing off a bottle ... that decision has been taken out of my control ... I have a son and two sons-in-law ... gotta take the good with the bad.

[Guest]

I really like the idea of preserving a small 2oz bottle for the future, it would be perfect for that situation where I consider buying a bottle of something I havent had for a couple years because I want to see how my palate has evolved but dont want to buy a whole bottle - brilliant!

[CL]

Like DBM, I have started using bottles from Specialty Bottles. When I open a new, hard to get, bourbon or rye, I save some immediately in a 4 oz bottle. I want enough to either have a really good evening with it in the future or to share it with a friend. (I also bought 2 oz bottles so I could send some of my current stock home with friends.)

[smknjoe]

I've been saving samples of hard to find bottles for quite a while too, but I just use empty 200ml bottles. I might want more than just a couple of pours in the future. Plus, the shipping on those Specialty bottles is high. Is there a cheaper way to get them?

[CL]

I agree, the shipping was high. I checked a few local places and on Amazon, but couldn't find anything comparable or as inexpensive, even with the shipping. The bottles are good quality and many others have used them. So, I went with the sure thing instead of gambling on something else. I think I bought a few dozen of 4 and 2 oz to spread the shipping.

[ChainWhip]

Freund Container is another decent outfit for sourcing glass bottles.

[Guest]

It just occured to me that with my chosen vocation as an environmental scientist I have an almost unlimited supply of laboratory grade sterile glass containers at my disposal, complete with inert teflon cap seals. The best thing is that all I have to do is call up any of my laboratory contractors up and request a couple hundred 3oz dark tinted bottles to dropped off free of charge, why havent I thought of this before!

[jtgraves]

It just occured to me that with my chosen vocation as an environmental scientist I have an almost unlimited supply of laboratory grade sterile glass containers at my disposal, complete with inert teflon cap seals. The best thing is that all I have to do is call up any of my laboratory contractors up and request a couple hundred 3oz dark tinted bottles to dropped off free of charge, why havent I thought of this before!

[ChainWhip]

For the whisky library, I've bumped up from the 2oz to 200ml though - it'll afford me the opportunity to spend more time revisiting with an old friend :-)

[ChainWhip]

This has been posted before, but this article by Sku a while back has some relevance to our discussion:

http://recenteats.blogspot.com/2012/01/whiskey-collectors-field-guide.html

;-)

[MauiSon]

For the whisky library, I've bumped up from the 2oz to 200ml though - it'll afford me the opportunity to spend more time revisiting with an old friend :-)

[MtnDew]

I think I'll be putting in an order for 8oz bottles from specialty bottle so that I can start putting away my ~230ml "samples" from each nice bottle I open. That gives me enough for a decent number of pours while still leaving enough of the main bottle to enjoy with friends.

[Guest]

Good idea. I believe MichaelTurtle1 is also an environmental scientist. Which is why a sample he shipped to Austin came in a nice test tube with a screw on cap. And also why he could do that amazing lead testing thread.

Yes that was/is an informative and well written thread.

I can admit to using those vials in the past myself, very very handy in my younger days when throwing a rowdy party, they can hold 40ml so they work incredibly wrll for premixed shooters of an ounce of cheap vodka and something sweet - just fill a bucket with ice and place a few dozen vial shots to chill, guests can help themselves!

[DBM]

Just a small step away from bumping it to back-up (library) bottles, eh? If you don't watch out, you may start developing a bunker, even.

Haha, that was going through my head too. You have to draw the line between saving the memory and just saving the bottle.

Personally, my goal is to do vintage comparison tasting and long term revisiting for limited edition bottles. I suspect I will amass a significant number of archive bottles so I want to keep it reasonable and a 2oz container allows me to enjoy most of the bottle contents. If I ever start complaining about current bourbon being substandard, longing for the good ol' days and kicking myself for not saving more, the fun is over and I will find another hobby.

[ChainWhip]

That's true - that line is a tricky one to pin down. But then if I have a bottle that I know I can only have one of, the 200ml reference bottle really makes sense. Most bottles I have, the 2oz bottles work (either because they're semi regular releases like BTAC, etc.,) but there are just some treasure bottles that I want more ml's of stored away.

[yemenmocha]

Late to the thread here... but for me when the bottle is about 50% or just under, then I hit it rather hard and finish it off. I strive to keep relatively few open, and I don't like most bottles that have low volume. Better to just finish off the lower volume bottles quickly, in my opinion.