# Can whiskey go bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 19, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-whiskey-go-bad/219883 "2003-12-19T00:42:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-whiskey-go-bad/219883/1 "2003-12-19T00:42:29Z")
mine smells weird and i am not getting drunk off of it. So what does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-whiskey-go-bad/219883/2 "2003-12-19T00:54:15Z")
If it’s not tightly capped, the alcohol, with it’s lower boiling point and higher vapor pressure, will evaporate at a faster rate than the water. Perhaps the alcohol evaporated away and you’re left with flavored water? ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-whiskey-go-bad/219883/3 "2003-12-19T00:57:39Z")
Usually hard liquer is too alcoholic to promote vinegar making microbes and doesn’t go bad unless it’s been exposed to _way_ too much sunlight. If it’s an unreputable brand it might have a lot of fusel oil in it, but that’s pretty uncommon. Not getting drunk off of it that could mean that the alcohol had evaporated leaving crummy watery stuff. If you have a slippery roomate or teenaged boy in the house who might have snaffled some on the sly and left tea (or worse) in it’s place to make up the difference in the bottle? ---
**Author:** ![Madness2MyMethod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Madness2MyMethod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madness2MyMethod)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-whiskey-go-bad/219883/4 "2003-12-19T01:17:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wesley Clark \* > \*\*mine smells weird and i am not getting drunk off of it. So what does that mean? \*\* it means chug it ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-whiskey-go-bad/219883/5 "2003-12-19T01:29:37Z")
My first thought on seeing the title was “who leaves it around long enough to find out?” My second thought was the the old mini-bar trick as mentioned by **Inky** :- > [@](#): > > \*\*…left tea (or worse) in it’s place to make up the difference in the bottle? \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Madness2MyMethod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Madness2MyMethod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madness2MyMethod)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-whiskey-go-bad/219883/6 "2003-12-19T01:32:17Z")
I still vote you chug it like a caveman ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-whiskey-go-bad/219883/7 "2003-12-19T01:42:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Madness2MyMethod \* > \*\*I still vote you chug it like a caveman \*\* You’re not the one who pee’d in **Clarky’s** whisky, are you?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-whiskey-go-bad/219883/8 "2003-12-19T02:26:19Z")
[This](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=222651) looks like a pretty classic case of whiskey going bad. 😃 Have you considered testing if it’s flammable (to see if there’s the normal amount of alcohol in it)? ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-whiskey-go-bad/219883/9 "2003-12-19T05:20:41Z")
I have some miniatures from the early 70’s and they work just fine. I asked about the same thing here and the answers all seemed to say go for it - no problems from drinking it although one of about 20 that I sampled did smell funny so I tossed just the one. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-whiskey-go-bad/219883/10 "2003-12-19T05:54:55Z")
i know little about alcohol the chemistry of ethanol/alcohol, i was just wondering if there was a risk it had converted to methanol. It has been exposed to alot of sunlight though. i leave the plastic bottle on top of the microwave in front of the window. ---
**Author:** ![E.T.Bass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@E.T.Bass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.T.Bass)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-whiskey-go-bad/219883/11 "2003-12-19T08:40:12Z")
Jolly Ranchers would be good with a “white liquor” like vodka, if it was not too overpowering, (from other story). I would think for booze to go bad, it would take years and years if the bottle was screwed on tight. Of course, a bottle does not last long with me, and even for a “normal and temperate drinker”, a fifth should have a shelf life of over a year or so. Is not alcohol and sugar in the same family? ET