Flyfish Posted September 18, 2017 Share Posted September 18, 2017 On 6/16/2017 at 4:30 PM, Richnimrod said: I'm betting (no cash, though) there will be NO sample consistently picked as being different. My palate changes so much from day to day sometimes that I'm fairly sure the 'air time' thing is more likely me changing than the Bourbon. Yes. That's my perception as well. I know that bourbon can change dramatically with just a few drops of water, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richnimrod Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 3 hours ago, Flyfish said: Yes. That's my perception as well. I know that bourbon can change dramatically with just a few drops of water, though. TRUE! Not all do it "dramatically"; but some few certainly do. And, a good many more (but, certainly not all) can exhibit a pretty noticeable evolution with the addition of a small amount of water. Makes it fun to mess with 'em, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthQuake Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 (edited) I intend to do my own experiment shortly, when a couple bottles arrive in the mail (WhistlePig 10 year single barrel store pick barrel proof). I ordered a bottle from one of these barrels 6 months ago, and have drank it down to the last 2 oz pour in the meantime. It was so good that I ordered two more from the same batch. Anyway, I figured this was a good time to try this experiment. I have a couple theories, firstly that ~1 month isn't long enough to see a noticeable difference. Secondly, 1/2 full isn't a high enough air:liquid ratio to make a noticeable difference, at least not in that short of a time span. From purely anecdotal evidence I tend to find that the last 1/3rd of a bottle is where it hits peak flavor, and I have a lot of open bottles and I like to switch up what I drink, so it tends to take me many months to get to that point. When I have a bottle that gets below 1/3rd or so I try to finish it off, so I don't have any long term experiences with very little (say 2-4oz) left in a bottle, but I expect that would be interesting and doubt very much that a difference would not be noticed after say, a year's time at that fill level. We'll see if the scientific method confirms or shatters my theories/pre-conceived notions. Edited November 1, 2017 by EarthQuake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthQuake Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 Alright as promised here are my results. My sample size is quite a bit smaller (just me and my wife), but oh well. Criteria: 3 1 oz pours of WhistlePig 10 SB 120.3 proof tasted blind. Odd sample had been drunk down in the normal way until 2oz was remaining after a period of about 6 months. Contestant #1: Was able to pick the correct sample by the nose alone. Picked the correct sample by taste after sipping each sample a single time. Preferred the odd sample (bottle aged). Contestant #2: Could not tell the difference, picked the wrong sample. #1 was my wife, who has a superior sense of taste and smell (I suspect she is a super taster). #2 was me obviously, its amusing because if I would have went with my initial gut instinct I would have picked the correct sample, but I kept retrying and second guessing. In any case the 3 samples were so close to my palette that even a correct guess would have been dumb luck. My wife on the other hand, I trust her palette. So does whiskey change after 6 months? I would say yes, and for the better, but only if you have a well trained palette, which I do not. I've reserved the last 1oz pour and intend to retry the experiment sometime in the future, perhaps with different contestants. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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