How long do you keep your bottles open?

[thunderhead357]

I now have 11 5ths of bourbon open and I know the science behind how much is gone and how much oxygen is in the bottle makes it go bad faster but just curious how long do most o you let a bottle stay open before you stop opening bottles and just finish what you have.

[Oboe Cadobro]

You might find this interesting...

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?21743

[393foureyedfox]

my record, so far, is a bottle of Booker's I opened when i got it for a Christmas gift. Its about 45% full, and last night I had some and it was just as good as it was the first time I opened it. I worry the cork will go bad on it before the whiskey changes profile.

[GaryT]

I've got over 75 bottles open, and some bottles that are coming up on 3 yrs open in the next month. My rule is that when they get to 50% full, if they've been opened for 2 yrs (and I think they may be last another year or more), I'll decant into a 375 - or target. I haven't noticed any deterioration in them thus far, so I don't worry about how long they're open. If I want to stretch a bottle over 10 yrs - I will (although honestly that is rarely the plan). These are often bottles I'm not crazy about, but like enough not to dump (1792 RR is a good example for me). Or, bottles I love - but I have no back-up or bunker, so I tend to nurse it (my 2010 WLW is an example of that).

[fishnbowljoe]

How long do I keep my bottles open? Till they're empty. :skep:

To cut to the chase, I don't open near as many bottles as I used to. Most of the bottles that I open now, I tend to drink in a fairly short/reasonable amount of time. In the past, maybe not so much. My first bottle of Pappy 20 lasted somewhere between a year and a half, and two years.

[ebo]

I don't have a "stash" anymore. I tend to buy a bottle or two when I'm low on whatever I'm currently drinking. I usually kill a bottle a week. I used to have a hundred bottles or more of Bourbon, Scotch and Irish at one time. Divorce and alimony have since dictated that I can no longer "bunker" anything. When I did, I can honestly say that I never noticed a decline in the quality of anything I had open for even a year or more.

[garbanzobean]

I keep about 8-12 bottles of whiskey open at a given time. If I have a bottle of bourbon (or any kind of whiskey) open for more than 6 months, I start thinking about taking it off the whiskey shelf and putting it on the "ok to mix" shelf. Not all whiskies make that sad journey, though. Sometimes I go through spurts of not being in a whiskey mood. Sometimes I am too busy traveling for work. Sometimes I'm savoring it (WLW 2013). Sometimes I think it's good whisk(e)y, but I'm just not in the mood for it that often (THH 2012).

I don't really feel bad about mixing whisk(e)y I don't find to my taste. I like to make craft cocktails (which--big surprise!--taste better when you use nice bourbon/scotch/rye/whatever), and I don't really see the point of forcing myself to drink something I don't care for just for the sake of decorum. I paid for it, and am generally happy to enjoy it however I see fit.

All that said, if something sits longer than 8 months and I've decided not to use it as a mixer, I start making a concerted effort to "get to know it."

Edited May 14, 2014 by garbanzobean

[dcbt]

I had a bottle of PVW20 (I think it was a 2011, maybe 2012 bottle) change noticeably on me. I had several pours over the holidays and it got down to about 1/3 full and at that point I hadn't noticed any change. I revisited it in March and it was not as good. Slightly grainy or bitter maybe. Hard to describe but not as good as it was. So I immediately launched Operation Finish Pappy. Since then I've stocked up on 250mL and 2oz glass containers to ward off this happening again.

I read somewhere a general rule of thumb is once a bottle gets to 1/3 full, either enjoy it or move it to a smaller container. After a month or so at 1/3 full it may start to oxidize noticeably...

Edited May 15, 2014 by dcbt

[Paddy]

I'm to the point where I only keep a couple of rye's, two or three bourbons, a Mellow Corn and maybe an Irish or what not open at a time.

I've got a few rare/discontinued opens for special occasions, but I do decant those and go to smaller vessels with screw tops or synthetic corks.

To summarize....my lazy ass finds it easier to choose when I limit my options (opens)!

[The Black Tot]

Since my bourbon-drinking career is young, and I'm in the "try everything once" phase, I've got a silly amount of bottles open.

Having said this, I only have a drink or two out of each, so there isn't a lot of air in them.

These are going to be open for a long time, so I'm going to decant the rarest and most expensive ones (the ones I don't want to drink a lot of at a time), and parafilm seal the others. This should buy me lots of time so that my rate of consumption can get the job done in the long run.

Once I've figured out where my interests lie and have my bearings, I'll work on killing the bottles that were good, not great. Or worse, of course.

Because I'm buying such a wide variety at a high rate (to explore), some of these bottles will have been opened for a very long time before they are finished. But with only a dram or two out of each and a high quality re-seal, I'm confident they'll still have their zing.

tbt

[jfw]

I have a bottle of Jack that has been open since 1987. Only about 2 oz. missing. It took one ounce for me to decide I don't like Jack. I tried it again a few years ago. I still don't like it . So, my range is hours to 27 years.

[Restaurant man]

I now have 11 5ths of bourbon open and I know the science behind how much is gone and how much oxygen is in the bottle makes it go bad faster but just curious how long do most o you let a bottle stay open before you stop opening bottles and just finish what you have.

I also have never tasted a bottle that had gone "bad" many have been opened for years. I do not worry at all

[squire]

Of course if there is any concern the solution is to drink it up.

[tanstaafl2]

I have long since lost count how many are open. I can barely keep track of how many I have! If they aren't low fill I am not particularly worried about them and most of mine are of the buy and try variety so there isn't much open space. If they do get down close to 1/3 left I try to finish them off sooner rather than later or move to a smaller bottle.

I do find it is useful to do a "cork check" periodically. I have found that some natural corks dry out, shrink up and get loose. That makes me concerned the contents can deteriorate a good bit faster so I replace the cork or move to a new bottle with a better seal if I have to.

[TunnelTiger]

My oldest is about a year, which is a one of a kind with no back up. I empty 2 every week that are easy to come by but I have a half dozen that are half full but with back up's in the bunker.

Just last week I emptied my first bottles of OFBB2013 & ECBP #3. Haven't opened the new ones yet.

[kjbeggs]

The ones I like well enough to care what happens, usually don't stick around long enough for any negarive changes to take place.

I've been nursing a PVW20 since last fall's release, so that's the oldest open bottle I really worry about.

I've got a couple bottles of Scotch that have been open around three years, but it's because I don't really care for either of them.

I do have a can of Private Preserve on hand, for when I decide to try and stretch out a bottle.

[mbroo5880i]

I have wondered how long an open bottle is "still good." I haven't ran into that issue with bourbon but I have had issues with other liquors, specifically Amaretto. My oldest open bottles are non bourbons like vodka, rum and mixers like Vermouth.

Edited May 16, 2014 by mbroo5880i

[B.B. Babington]

I have about 200 open. Longest open maybe 15 years though might have some that's been open 20 years. I'm an advocate of parafilm or some other sealent if going to leave it for a while. Some of the more complex sips perhaps lost some of their pizzazz when done to bottom third, but could just be from sipping on different day. And my palate isn't as sensitive as it used to be.

[zeeck]

I have three right now, but the most I've had is only five. I find I generally drink the stuff faster than I buy it.

[Tony Santana]

My oldest right now is a handle of Jack that's been open for more than a year. Don't go back to that well too often. Polished off a bottle of Scotch a couple of months ago that was more than 2 years old, and it didn't seem any the worse for wear. I have a lot of open bourbons, but like many here I will make a concerted effort to finish them once the fill levels start dropping down to close to a third of the bottle. I do have some of that preserve stuff that I've used on a couple of pricier bottles that I don't attack too often, but I honestly don't know if it makes a difference. Sort of a "just in case" measure, and none of them have been open more than 7 months or so.

[DrBob]

I have some that have been open about a year and a half, I peaked last fall with about 40 open bottles, I have since been whittling those down to what I always want to have on hand, and have only 24 open at the moment. Like many have said I don't worry about it much until the bottle is below half, then I usually finish it within a month or so. My goal for the next year or two is to continue tasting all the bourbons I have bought, bunker a few things occasionally that I am concerned I won't get later, and to buy a lot less sourced bourbon....

[tanstaafl2]

I have wondered how long an open bottle is "still good." I haven't ran into that issue with bourbon but I have had issues with other liquors, specifically Amaretto. My oldest open bottles are non bourbons like vodka, rum and mixers like Vermouth.

If you have vermouth open and it isn't refrigerated you are probably best served by dumping it! Remember it is a wine based spirit. You may not notice as much if you are mixing with it but try a Manhattan with an old bottle and a fresh one and see if there isn't a pretty big difference!

Even in a fridge using a vacuum seal I think the most I can hope for is 3-4 months, maybe six if I don't open it a lot in between and it still probably won't be as good.

[amg]

I've thrown out a few bottles of vermouth that were more than 50% full because they went bad before I could use them. I wish I could find smaller bottles of decent vermouth around here.

[dcbt]

I've thrown out a few bottles of vermouth that were more than 50% full because they went bad before I could use them. I wish I could find smaller bottles of decent vermouth around here.

Buy smaller empty glass containers and transfer when needed...

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?22154-small-whiskey-containers

[kjbeggs]

I have about 200 open. Longest open maybe 15 years though might have some that's been open 20 years. I'm an advocate of parafilm or some other sealent if going to leave it for a while. Some of the more complex sips perhaps lost some of their pizzazz when done to bottom third, but could just be from sipping on different day. And my palate isn't as sensitive as it used to be.

I've seen Parafilm referenced here several times lately. What width are you using, and where are you finding it? Most places I've seen it are selling it in 250' (2" or 4" width) rolls. I'd think that would last me forever.

I've also seen Plumber's tape recommended.

Edited May 16, 2014 by kjbeggs