Crown Royal (being imported) probably was a prestige brand in 1939. At over $3.00, it was pretty expensive.
Which makes me wonder-in those pre-WWII days, every American city had small whiskey distilleries-churning out cheap, “skull pop” whiskey-I wonder what you paid for local rotgut in those days?
I grew up in what was once a big whiskey producing area - most of the major events of the Whiskey Rebellion took place within a fifteen-mile radius of my childhood home.
This website visited some of the old disappeared distillers, and lists prices.
We still have brewers there that held on through Prohibition and the decades of consolidation that followed. The distilleries are all gone.
Does hard liquor go bad if bottled?
This thread? This one right here? This is why the Dope is one of the greatest things ever.
It can, if exposed to air. Not so much bad as contaminated, just like most liquids. If it’s still sealed, it’s probably good, though. No exposure to light, either, so that’s even better.
Of course, hard liquor also doesn’t get any better in a glass bottle. So, it’s not like this is a 50 year aged whiskey.
I’m not sure the retail, consumer price, but I used to buy a fifth of Crown Royal or Chivas Regal at the Army PX for $4 in 1968. For that price, why settle for anything less?