The Definitive Answer

Simply put: Standing up!

Especially if it has a screwcap, and not a cork. There's no reason to have the whisky in contact with the plastic coating of the screwcap. The advantage to lying flat is to keep the cork moist, so it doesn't dry out, but I even keep my corked bottles standing straight up. If the cork gets dry I just won't replace it once the bottle is opened (the corks are attached to a plastic or ceramic top anyways, not like wine bottles where there is only cork).

Hi Jeff,

Wine is stored on its side to keep the cork moist. If wine is stored standing up eventually the cork will dry out, lose its seal and allow air to pass into the bottle and ruin the wine. I don't know how long it takes for that to happen. It must be a while because wine is shipped in boxes in which it is standing up, isn't it?

(The metal foil which covers the cork was put there to keep the rats in your wine cellar from chewing on the cork. Lead was used because since Roman times it was thought that lead improved the flavor of wine, and because it doesn't rust or corrode. We now know that lead is poisonous, and detrimental even in small amounts. Some have speculated that some diseases described in classical literature - the prevalence of gout among the wealthy for instance - was actually low level lead poisoning. Aluminum is slowly replacing lead as the metal of choice for wrapping wine bottles, and some American wine makers have dispensed with the metal wrapping altogether since wine is now more likely to be kept in a cabinet, closet or pantry than a rat infested cellar.)

Whisky vapours are much more volatile than wine vapours, and it is thought that there is enough mositure in the air space at the top of the bottle to keep the cork mosit without actual contact with the liquid. So whisky bottles are stored standing up.

Some have argued that if whisky is stored on its side it will pick up flavors from the cork. Wine doesn't; so I'm skeptical, but whisky has much more alcohol than wine and is therefore a more powerful solvent, so maybe there is something to it.

Another argument against storing it on its side is that the cork will swell and burst the neck of the bottle. I have never seen this happen, and again I'm skeptical.

Occasionally whisky corks do dry out and shrink. Air enters the bottle and the whisky evaporates and deteriorates.

So here is my method for long term storage:

Using a grease pencil (china marker), or a stabillo (Aquarelle water-colour pencil) to mark the level of the whisky on the neck of the bottle. You will then know whether any evaporation has taken place over the years.

Store the bottles upright.

If they came in a box or a tin leave them in it - that will protect them from light. Light, especially sunlight, will deteriorate whisky over time.

Store them in a cool place. I don't think it's the actual temperature per se that is detrimental; it's the temperature variations which will cause the pressure inside the bottle to swell and decrease, which can pump air in and out of the bottle. But of course, heat speeds chemical reactions in general, so a cool place is preferable to a hot one.

Screw caps are sometimes installed loosely. Gently tighten them. They can work them selves loose from expansion and contraction due to temperature variations. Check them occasionally and re-tighten them if need be. (Another reason to store them away from temperature variations.)

Every couple of months tip the bottle over to make sure the cork is wetted.

That's what I do. That's all I do. I've only had one bottle which showed evaporation - it was a screw top. (One other that was questionable may have had some evaporation - it had a cork - but I bought it before I began to mark the level on the neck, and after marking it I've seen no more decrease in its fill level. It either just originally had a low fill level or the evaporation occurred several years ago.) My oldest bottles were purchased about ten years ago. My oldest bottling was bottled in 1988 (distilled '68), and was some years on the shelf when I purchased it.

I have heard of people dipping the top of the bottle in wax to prevent any air leaks and to seal the bottle for long term storage, but that's too messy for me, and I'm too lazy, and it seems that would ruin the presentation of the bottle. I don't expect to sell my bottles, I expect to drink them someday, but if I were holding them for future sale that might affect their value - not too sure about that.

Bart