wildcatdon Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 There are some really neat ones out there..My buddy and I save all of ours that we drink in his tavern..I save some of mine at home,like the Rock Hill Farms bottle and the Pappy Van Winkle 15 and 20yr bottles...I would like to hear from you all..Anyone else save any? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gothbat Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Most of them get tossed out but I do save a few. Some are for decorative purposes, these are generally nice decanters and older bottles. I don't really consider myself a decanter collector and probably only have 2 that aren't sealed. Others are saved for their re-usability. These are nicer bottles and bottles that are easily "anonymized". The Pappy Van Winkle bottles are a good example of this, sometimes the labels just kind of fall off right after you fill them with hot water and drop them in a sink full of it. The BTAC bottles are also nice once you get the labels off. One thing I wanted to do was remove the labels from all of the bottles I have with paper labels and completely cover the back of one of the shelves I keep my whiskey on but I've pretty much abandoned this practice. Most labels are just too hard to get off. They don't soak off well as they either don't come off or come off in pieces. Some can be removed by a hair dryer but this is too time consuming and I burn my fingers a lot doing this. Any suggestions as to how to do this are welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camduncan Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I haven't saved may in the past, but will probably hang onto bottles like Wild Turkey American Spirit, ORVW 10yo (UK bottle) and, if I ever buy a bottle, Rock Hill Farms.Sometimes I used to fill the rarer bottles with something from the same family eg put some WT 80 proof in the Tribute bottle for display reasons, but that's rare.Mostly they get tossed in the bin to make way for more bottles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasH Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I have turned some of the nicer empty bottles into lamps. I have an empty I.W. Harper 15yr. gold vein bottle that is filled with black sand and has a gold glass bead lampshade. The gold veins in the glass show up nicely against the black sand backround!Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spun_cookie Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I toss mine most the time as well. I have kept a coupe for a buddt who put candles in them and I have a WT 375 ml to put bourbon in for travel. In the end I need space for more full ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward_call_me_Ed Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I want to save the nicer bottles, but the bottles that are still in the rotation are taking up more room that I have already. Still, I have a few, like the BTAC etc. But every now and then I throw a bunch of bottles out that I didn`t have the heart to toss when they were first emptied.Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorvallisCracker Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 Others are saved for their re-usability. These are nicer bottles and bottles that are easily "anonymized". The Pappy Van Winkle bottles are a good example of this, sometimes the labels just kind of fall off right after you fill them with hot water and drop them in a sink full of it. The VW/PVW bottles are a standard type made by a third party and sold to a variety of producers, including BMH and the brandy distiller Germain-Robin. I save these and use them when I come up with a vatting I like enough to produce in quantity. I'll fire up PhotoShop on the 'pooter and print up a label, grab the Scotch Artist Adhesive (which later will dissolve in warm water when need be), spray some on the label, slap it on the bottle and OO-LA (as the French people say) I've got a Special Bottling.Added via Edit:I see I've graduated to Taster. It's gonna be GTS tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jburlowski Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I used to scream and throw them into the fireplace. But my wife says to "cut that out". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcatdon Posted March 22, 2008 Author Share Posted March 22, 2008 We have been filling our empties with amber colored water and lining a shelf in my friend's basement..Looks like a wall of full bourbon bottles..Pretty neat..The shelf runs the width of the walls several feet from the ceiling.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thesh Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 Use the aromas trapped inside the bottle to help make the city dump smell better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 We have been filling our empties with amber colored water and lining a shelf in my friend's basement..Looks like a wall of full bourbon bottles..Pretty neat..The shelf runs the width of the walls several feet from the ceiling..I like this, if space and time provides. Great, historical record. Kudos!But, frankly, I save only bottles that were special to ME -- for whatever reason. I try, when extractable, to save ALL unique labels. Everything else goes in the Dumpster, I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighTower Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I don't know why, but I seem to hang on to my empties. From where I'm sitting I can see my last 3, a WTRB, Blanton's Gold and a WR.In my garage I have a Weller 12, Basil Hayden, Gentleman Jack and a few CC12s. I have used a CC12 bottle for sugar syrup (I have some in the fridge for Mint Juleps), but I don't really know why I have the others. I probably wont throw the Weller 12 or Blanton's bottle out, ut the others may see the recycling bin.Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virus_Of_Life Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 My buddy in Oregon who has a Ranch and therefore a barn, and furthermore the space, wants all the emtpies for the barn. I've shipped some of my empties, but not many, and all those we've finished up there are in the barn, one with a strange note that was written after a long (too long) night of drinking (too much) wild turkey after my ex-wife left me. Aahhh the good ole days... Anyway, I am trying to save the rest to get there as the decoration in a barn is really fitting somehow, and, well my home will soon be much closer than it is now... Bottom line, if it is a one of kind, say a VOF, it'll get saved or even something that isn't produced I do think it should be displayed somehow if space is available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8erdane Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I rarely empty a bottle having gone so overboard with all the varieties I have obtained over the past few years. The bottle that started my collection, a Booker's, is still about half full. The ones I do empty are usually ones that I have replacements for so they get tossed. In a similar thread years ago I suggested that you estimate the mash bill on the bottling and proportion whole grains in levels inside the bottle as a showpiece though. Like half corn, a quarter rye, and a quarter barley. I haven't done this yet but someday will when I get around to emptying some of my favorites.Now that I think about it, this is almost equal to people having taxidermists stuff their pets. I find that sort of morbid... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarV Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 It has been three years now that I have decided to jump into this bourbon thing.I wanted to try for myself every bourbon I could and it has been and still is a hell of an experience on many levels.I have kept a least one of every bottle I have tried.Some more than one like the WLW from the BTAC and the Stagg's also the Pappy's and WT Kentuckey Spirit. I recently thinned out my empties (a lot of clanging at the recycle center that day) but I have kept the faux leather neck rider from all the FR Single Barrells.Why? not sure, maybe as souvenirs from the journey/experience that I took with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesW Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I use a lot of my empty bottles to split purchases with a friend on this board. Often I haven't tried a given bottle or it's very pricey so we'll split the contents using old bottles for that purpose and this way if it's not to my taste I don't have too much to drink before I can toss it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILLfarmboy Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I use a lot of my empty bottles to split purchases with a friend on this board. Often I haven't tried a given bottle or it's very pricey so we'll split the contents using old bottles for that purpose and this way if it's not to my taste I don't have too much to drink before I can toss it.That's using the ol' noggin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sijan Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I used to scream and throw them into the fireplace. But my wife says to "cut that out".LOL!I throw most of them out, but keep a few of the more decorative ones, like the RHF bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luv2hunt Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Saving empty bottles? If you display them, you have to dust them! Ours all go in the recycling bin!Dawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barturtle Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Saving empty bottles? If you display them, you have to dust them! Ours all go in the recycling bin!DawnThis is the main reason why all my bottles live in boxes and not on display...you don't have to dust boxes...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WineGuy Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 I would throw away empty bottles. Only exception is if I have a use for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 They all get tossed. I must admit though, I do tremble a little when I stand over the trash can with an empty Stagg. I don't know why, but I never quite throw it in quickly. JOE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrel_Proof Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 I must admit though, I do tremble a little when I stand over the trash can with an empty Stagg. I don't know why, but I never quite throw it in quickly. JOEAnd to think that I am responsible for first sending Joe down that road some years ago! :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 And to think that I am responsible for first sending Joe down that road some years ago! :cool: That's right! If only I could find Stagg for $35 per bottle, now! My only regret is that I only had $70 on me. :toast: JOE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huegeb Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 And to think that I am responsible for first sending Joe down that road some years ago! :cool:Sounds a little flippy to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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