How much does evaporation affect flavor?

[Skinsfan1311]

I have an older collector bottle of whiskey.

The seal is intact, but some of the whiskey has evaporated.

The plan is to drink it with some friends, at one of our tastings.  It's just standard JD.

This may belong under the "Other American Whiskey" posts,  but I'm lazy and still in shock that my beloved Washington Football Team won two in a row

[Dannabis]

The alcohol is I believe the first to evaporate so it should become woodier and burn less in my experience. I would love if there was an easy ABV or Proof test kit available for this kinda thing

[lemonman]

There are, it's called a hydrometer. Here's an example kit; if you already have a graduated cylinder, etc you can buy just the hydrometer itself for cheaper:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Circrane-Hydrometer-Distilling-Moonshine-Alcoholmeter/dp/B08PY7R1RF/ref=sr_1_12?crid=1UL17XABDD59L&keywords=alcohol+hydrometer&qid=1659582639&sprefix=alcohol+hydr%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-12

 

 

[GeeTen]

8 hours ago, lemonman said:

There are, it's called a hydrometer. Here's an example kit; if you already have a graduated cylinder, etc you can buy just the hydrometer itself for cheaper:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Circrane-Hydrometer-Distilling-Moonshine-Alcoholmeter/dp/B08PY7R1RF/ref=sr_1_12?crid=1UL17XABDD59L&keywords=alcohol+hydrometer&qid=1659582639&sprefix=alcohol+hydr%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-12

 

 

 

Nerds - gotta' love 'em.  SWMBO says I'm one of them . . . . .  

 

[Kepler]

I've had mixed results.  Years ago I found an old dusty late 90s or early 2000's RHF in the wild that had a leaky cork.  I was worried about the taste but it turned out to be fantastic.  I've nursed that bottle for years and now I'm down to probably one last pour that I'll probably have on the next Kentucky Derby day.

 

I also once found 3 bottles of pre-fire EC12 (with the older oval shaped paper label, which predates the more recent "pirate bottle" label that had a flat bottomed label)... anyway I picked up 2 of those 3 and left one on the shelf because it had a leaky seal and cork.  At the old shelf price I should have just picked up that 3rd bottle anyway because it might have been fine.  Back then I had no clue what I was doing...