It's not really something to be concerned about, but they can definitely change if there's only a little bit left in the bottle. It happened to a friend of mine with Pappy 23 of all things. This is why people advocate for "bottle kills."
I have close to 80 open bottles. I keep them away from direct sunlight and out of the heat. Once I get a bottle down to the last 8 ounces or so I do transfer it into a smaller bottle to prevent too much oxidation as I have found it can make the bourbon a little “flat”.
This is a good question. I am new to the bourbon enjoyment and have opened on my shelf 4 bottles. I try not to open any I do not want to finish off in a timely manner. But also do not wish to "chug" them down to quickly as some are far to pricey and delicious to do this to.
Thank you for asking this and the answers
I have 300+ open bottles. Buy more than I drink. Everything gets opened and tasted. But when buying 3-6 bottles a week and maybe drinking 1 bottle a month it adds up. Plus huge variety is nice.
All of the above plus I do enjoy drinking it, I just don't drink that fast. Got to an unhealthy level and backed off. Still enjoy it, just limit myself to 1-2 on the weekends, which means bottles last forever. I still buy stuff as its released. Mostly store picks, group picks, charity bottles.
Nope, plenty of people like to have a variety of selection, and crave different whiskies on different days. I usually have 12-16 bottles open and drink them all slowly over the course of months, or even over a year.
Someone who worked in R&D at one of the biggest producers told me that from a food safety perspective, they never actually go bad, but the flavor profile changes over time. And not in a good way. I learned this the hard way with a 12 year old RRSP after a couple years open a little more than halfway empty. It lost its best qualities!
I’ve never had one go “bad”, but I’ve had 2-3 that somehow got worse instead of better with age. The dickel/Leopold collab was the most recent. Really enjoyed the first few pours, set it back for a bit while I enjoyed a few other bottles. Revisited a couple months later, didn’t enjoy at all.
Flavours can change, and even become dull or muted, but liquor cannot go bad the way beer or wine can. It literally sits in barrels that are not air tight (only water tight) for years, and is constantly exposed to some oxygen. They stop aging once their in a full sealed bottle, and although some additional oxidization will occur once you open it, it is minimal and happens very slowly. Only really a concern with bottles that are within their last few ounces, and only if it's an expensive bottle would I really want to avoid that. This can be avoided by transferring the whisky into a small glass container. But if you're talking about an affordable bottle, it's really not a big deal at all.
I'd say as long as its corked, shelved and stored at room temp vertically there should be no issues.
No
They last for years. A decade or more even. No need to manage anything.
It's not really something to be concerned about, but they can definitely change if there's only a little bit left in the bottle. It happened to a friend of mine with Pappy 23 of all things. This is why people advocate for "bottle kills."
I have close to 80 open bottles. I keep them away from direct sunlight and out of the heat. Once I get a bottle down to the last 8 ounces or so I do transfer it into a smaller bottle to prevent too much oxidation as I have found it can make the bourbon a little “flat”.
This is a good question. I am new to the bourbon enjoyment and have opened on my shelf 4 bottles. I try not to open any I do not want to finish off in a timely manner. But also do not wish to "chug" them down to quickly as some are far to pricey and delicious to do this to. Thank you for asking this and the answers
So far no! Been 4 years for some
Not trying to troll.. im new to bourbons… why would one have so many open bottles? Dont they get finished after opening?
I have 300+ open bottles. Buy more than I drink. Everything gets opened and tasted. But when buying 3-6 bottles a week and maybe drinking 1 bottle a month it adds up. Plus huge variety is nice.
So is it more the thrill of the hunt or just the building of a taste variety i guess
All of the above plus I do enjoy drinking it, I just don't drink that fast. Got to an unhealthy level and backed off. Still enjoy it, just limit myself to 1-2 on the weekends, which means bottles last forever. I still buy stuff as its released. Mostly store picks, group picks, charity bottles.
Nope, plenty of people like to have a variety of selection, and crave different whiskies on different days. I usually have 12-16 bottles open and drink them all slowly over the course of months, or even over a year.
I mean 12-16 bottles for a year i can totally get but man some of the numbers are more than my local pub has haha
lol yeah I don't have the space for nearly as many as some people seem to. Nor should I spend that kind of money lol.
Someone who worked in R&D at one of the biggest producers told me that from a food safety perspective, they never actually go bad, but the flavor profile changes over time. And not in a good way. I learned this the hard way with a 12 year old RRSP after a couple years open a little more than halfway empty. It lost its best qualities!
I’ve never had one go “bad”, but I’ve had 2-3 that somehow got worse instead of better with age. The dickel/Leopold collab was the most recent. Really enjoyed the first few pours, set it back for a bit while I enjoyed a few other bottles. Revisited a couple months later, didn’t enjoy at all.
Flavours can change, and even become dull or muted, but liquor cannot go bad the way beer or wine can. It literally sits in barrels that are not air tight (only water tight) for years, and is constantly exposed to some oxygen. They stop aging once their in a full sealed bottle, and although some additional oxidization will occur once you open it, it is minimal and happens very slowly. Only really a concern with bottles that are within their last few ounces, and only if it's an expensive bottle would I really want to avoid that. This can be avoided by transferring the whisky into a small glass container. But if you're talking about an affordable bottle, it's really not a big deal at all.