My neighbor gave me a 44 year old bottle of whiskey

[MikeO]

My neighbor is 91 years old and I try to help him with the stuff he's too old to do anymore (like shoveling snow and raking leaves). He's always trying to return the favor, and yesterday he did in a big way. He have me a bottle of Seagrams Canadian VO that someone gave him for Christmas decades ago. When I got back home I searched the bottle for some sort of date and found the following: 1975.

Cracked it open and it tastes glorious Way smoother than the crap I usually drink

[nightflameauto]

Whiskey that old deserves a careful comparison with the modern equivalent to see if there are major differences. I'm sure there will be a line of volunteers around shortly to help you make this comparison.

Awful nice gesture of your neighbor though.

[newholland]

i don't think whiskey ages once it's bottled... it's just an old batch of whiskey. not to say it can't be good, but i just don't think it really changes much in the glass with a few years on it.

i can definitely say that i've partaken of a coupla old bottles, and enjoyed it, for sure... i don't think it's anything supafancy-- but i ain't gonna sneeze at it though!

hee-- but enjoy! last 'old bottle' i had was similar-- canadian blended whiskey, and it WAS super smooth and easy... sure ain't no bulleit

[nightflameauto]

Yeah, I'd be much more interested in the difference in recipes from that long ago to now than thinking it aged in bottle. Once it's out of the initial barrels, it doesn't age unless it's been opened and started oxidizing.

I haven't had any "old" whiskey in a long, LONG time. Actually, the oldest I can remember was a 21 year old scotch, but that was aging time, not bottled time.

[EndTime]

Idk. You may want to consider lighting it on fire

[Marc G]

i don't think whiskey ages once it's bottled... it's just an old batch of whiskey not to say it can't be good, but i just don't think it really changes much in the glass with a few years on it.

yup... once you take whiskey out of a cask it doesn't age any more....



I agree though... would be interesting to compare it to a modern version of the same blend

[Pepi]

Set it on fire and see if it burns like Jim Beam

[BroSlinger]

Yep, glass is the whiskey's fountain of youth.

That said, as long as he didn't store it in direct sunlight, I'm sure it's great.

[ajaxlepinski]

I wonder if they made whiskey differently back then?
Fermentation yeast may have changed a bit, since then?

My buddy's boss's father passed in the mid 2000's - the boss gave my buddy two unopened bottles of his Dad's Dewars with NY State Tax Stamps dated from 1968.
Four of us pounded down that shit in two days... and it did seem noticeably better than what is currently for sale,

[BroSlinger]

I wonder if they made whiskey differently back then?
Fermentation yeast may have changed a bit, since then?

My buddy's boss's father passed in the mid 2000's - the boss gave my buddy two unopened bottles of his Dad's Dewars with NY State Tax Stamps dated from 1968.
Four of us pounded down that shit in two days... and it did seem noticeably better than what is currently for sale,

FTMP, they make it the same way, and big distilleries recreate the same yeast over and over in a lab (unlike bushleague microbreweries that regrow a culture into oblivion).

That said, a company like Dewars was premium in 1968. Now, it's mid shelf. They have surely found 50 ways to make it more cheaply and in larger batches. They've probably been bought and sold 50 times. They may use cheaper grain, cheaper barrels, etc. (fwiw, good bourbon barrels have become much more scarce for the Scotch producers to use, so they have to make due with crummier barrels or alternatives like sherry/brandy barrels>)

so, it's like buying nautica cologne at walgreens now vs buying it at nordstrom 30 years ago. They figured out a way to make it more profitable even if quality suffered.

distillation has been the same for like 600 years.

[ajaxlepinski]

I wonder if they made whiskey differently back then?
Fermentation yeast may have changed a bit, since then?

My buddy's boss's father passed in the mid 2000's - the boss gave my buddy two unopened bottles of his Dad's Dewars with NY State Tax Stamps dated from 1968.
Four of us pounded down that shit in two days... and it did seem noticeably better than what is currently for sale,

FTMP, they make it the same way, and big distilleries recreate the same yeast over and over in a lab (unlike bushleague microbreweries that regrow a culture into oblivion).

That said, a company like Dewars was premium in 1968. Now, it's mid shelf. They have surely found 50 ways to make it more cheaply and in larger batches. They've probably been bought and sold 50 times. They may use cheaper grain, cheaper barrels, etc. (fwiw, good bourbon barrels have become much more scarce for the Scotch producers to use, so they have to make due with crummier barrels or alternatives like sherry/brandy barrels>)

so, it's like buying nautica cologne at walgreens now vs buying it at nordstrom 30 years ago. They figured out a way to make it more profitable even if quality suffered.

distillation has been the same for like 600 years.

Amazing... the things I've learned at GGF!

[MikeO]

Whiskey that old deserves a careful comparison with the modern equivalent to see if there are major differences.

My plan is to buy a new bottle of the same thing and see if I taste any difference. I don't expect it to be different because of it's age, but its possible that they made tweaks to their process over the years that might affect the taste.

[Marc G]

I wonder if they made whiskey differently back then?
Fermentation yeast may have changed a bit, since then?

My buddy's boss's father passed in the mid 2000's - the boss gave my buddy two unopened bottles of his Dad's Dewars with NY State Tax Stamps dated from 1968.
Four of us pounded down that shit in two days... and it did seem noticeably better than what is currently for sale,

FTMP, they make it the same way, and big distilleries recreate the same yeast over and over in a lab (unlike bushleague microbreweries that regrow a culture into oblivion).

That said, a company like Dewars was premium in 1968. Now, it's mid shelf. They have surely found 50 ways to make it more cheaply and in larger batches. They've probably been bought and sold 50 times. They may use cheaper grain, cheaper barrels, etc. (fwiw, good bourbon barrels have become much more scarce for the Scotch producers to use, so they have to make due with crummier barrels or alternatives like sherry/brandy barrels>)

so, it's like buying nautica cologne at walgreens now vs buying it at nordstrom 30 years ago. They figured out a way to make it more profitable even if quality suffered.

distillation has been the same for like 600 years.

Plus Blended Whisky would be super consistent since they have master blenders referencing previous blends when creating new batches...

[Yarbicus]

Now I am thirsty.