Does Scotch go Bad?

Does an open bottle of Scotch ever go bad? When I buy and open a bottle of single malt scotch, then put the cap/cork back in, will it taste the same a month from then and then two or four from then as well? Just wondering!

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contents of such thungs, no microorganisms can live in it. Therefore it will keep for years.

It will start to taste different, though.

I have not found that to be true. The only thing that I have found that if the cork stoppers are used and kept dry - some cork taint can get into the liquor which is not due to microorganisms in the liquor which might affect taste, though with the powerful taste in scotch it might not be noticable to most.

No Scotch Whisky in itself will not go bad - however in rare instances whisky can get corked - like a bottle of wine. I once had a bottle of Ben Nevis 26 year old that did this - and when i took it back to the shop I bought it - it was replaced. For information the whisky had a smell of rotten socks and lost most taste. Luckily the replacement was fine.

I thought it was 2 weeks. :^)

Jeff

Yes, opened bottles can oxidize. This changes the taste, generally, though not always, for the worse. This is especially the case when their is a lot of room for air in the bottle. Untill the bottle is

1/3 gone, there is not much of a problem. Once it is 2/3 gone--drink up! I have also heard that 2 years it the general time frame. I gas my bottles to greatly expand the time they will last. Many friends "decant" into progressively smaller bottles.

The main things that can go wrong with a long open bottle are oxidation and evaporation. Ever taste the next day a dram you didn't finish the night before?

I think the fellow who stated no micro organisms would grow in whisky is generally right although I'm not a biologist. However there is a fungus that can grow on cork, but cork is sterillized to prevent it before it's used to stopper whisky. I've never seen this fungus grow in a bottle full of whisky, but I've seen it in a long empty "trophy" bottle my friend Edd kept on a shelf.

Bart

I have yet to see a bottle of Scotch last longer than six months. I think it goes bad because the bottle fills with so much air that there's no room for Scotch. This "air/Scotch displacement" problem has resulted in countless bottles lost over time. We need to find a way to combat this problem - providing some way to prevent air from replacing the Scotch in open bottles!

IIRC, "box wine" doesn't go bad because the internal bag compresses and keeps oxygen out.

Box Scotch, anyone?

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It's a joke, son.

Maybe not boxing, but I hear that gin makes a man MEAN.

Very good! I got a great late night chuckle from this. Thanks!

I too have this mysterious air displacement problem with my collection...

Joe

Glad to help. :)

I've noticed that my Scotch collection is thinning lately. I just retired a bottle of Double Cask Balveine and a Buichladdich IB. My Cardhu red label is almost gone and that'll leave a Auchentoshan and Bowmore until the next purchase. Maybe I should try something farther down in the alphabet.

Well, you certainly have covered the As, Bs and Cs!

Enjoy...

Joe

lately...Balveine...Buichladdich...Cardhu...Auchentoshan...Bowmore ... Maybe I should try something farther down in the alphabet.

Absolutely. See if you can get a Clynelish.

Elmo is very proud of me, though you should never trust a drunk Muppet. They get very flammable.

You know, I've got one sitting on the table right now but it's a gift I have to send to someone in Spokane, Washington. I'll have to get one of my own I guess...

Joe

I'd like to tag along with the previous question, except for the following facts: I purchased a vintage-dated (1963) MacCallan in San Francisco in the late 70s or early 80s in placed in in my wine cellar have only occasionally remembered it was there. I know whisky doesn't age in the bottle like a good Bordeaux, so I would expect that whatever the whisky was at bottling it would never have changed. I have had the experience of having a fully "factory-sealed" bottle of Bushmill's Irish lose its alcohol through evaporation over five or six years, leaving only an "Irish-tasting" water. Some of my wine (but only a couple of bottles because I've been more conscious of their life-span) have passed their prime.

Sonehow I always has thought of the MacCallan as a special occasion or collector Scots whisky and neglected to actually drink it over all these years. I suppose the best way to test it is to open it and try it.

Is there any likelihood that the whisky is still good? Does it have any other value in the marketplace?

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