My mother-in-law passed away about 6 weeks ago, and my wife, brother-in-law, and I, have been working our way through the house, getting rid of all the crap that’s accumulated over the years. We found a few cartons of whiskey (Old Grandad, Windsor Canadian, that kind of stuff.) It’s been down in the basement for years. The bottles are unopened. I can’t get any sort of date, so I have no idea of the age.
Would it still be safe to drink?
Unopened bottles are probably still just fine, unless (possibly) they are very old. They won’t have gotten any better with age (since whiskey doesn’t age further once it’s out of the barrel), but it’s not likely that they’ve gone bad or anything like that.
Check the condition of the inside of the cap/cork before drinking it. Look for any sediment. There should be none. Old wine can have some, but I don’t think most or all hard liquor should have any. No cloudiness. Nothing floating.
I would imagine the flavor has changed some, if you care about that sort of thing.
Safe? Yes. Good? Old Grandad might make a decent Sidecar, and Windsor Canadian is suitable for a ‘Perfect’ Manhattan given that the combination of vermouths will mask the inadequacy of the base, but I wouldn’t drink either of those neat.
Stranger
Hey, any chance there’s a case of Canadian Club — maybe from that promotional campaign 40-something years ago?
All good advice.
Generally sealed hard liquor is good indefinitely.
Whiskey novice, here:
Is that because the flavor may have changed for the worse with age or because those are kinda considered “low rent”?
Shoot, Old Grandad BiB is one of the better and overlooked mainstream old line bourbons. An old bottle from the National Distillers era could be good to very good.
Those are just basic, lower shelf whiskeys; better than Jim Beam or Seagrams VO, but just a single step up. Unless the seal is cracked and the alcohol and volatiles have escaped the flavor isn’t going to change appreciably; there are 200+ year old casks of Scotch and Irish whiskys/whiskeys recovered from shipwrecks that are still drinkable. That the loot found by the o.p. is described as found by the “carton” and carelessly stored in a basement is indicative that these are inexpensive liquors bought in volume.
It’s…adequate. I’m not a fan of the high rye content in a bourbon whiskey, and I find the 80 proof to be kind of dilute. As an everyday drinking bourbon Buffalo Trace is a better value at almost twice the price, but if I’m buying a bottle for personal consumption I’ll step up to Four Roses Small Batch Select.
Stranger
What if it’s been opened?
This is what Burpo is talking about: https://www.tastingtable.com/1466593/worldwide-hunt-canadian-club-whisky-continues/
Then check it carefully, and unless you know who owned it, and where it has been, I would dispose of it.
I know who owned it – either me or my mother; and I know where it’s been – in the hutch in my dining room, and some of it possibly before that in her kitchen cupboards. I just go through hard liquor very slowly; and for a while was pretty much out of the habit entirely.
Thanks, m’man! There’s also a column from Cecil somewhere in the dusty archives.
So, I would then say- Okay. But sip conservatively.
Yeah, well the 80 proof is piss. But the bottled in bond is still worthwhile in my book especially given that you and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I’m high-rye all the way.
OGD BIB isn’t 80 proof, FWIW. It’s 100 proof. And some of us like the high-rye, FWIW.
My cheap bourbon is generally OGD BIB or WT101, but I’m currently really digging my bottles of Kapahi Bourbon (Hawaiian corn), Ben Holladay BIB (MO bourbon), and Steel Horse (Asheville, NC bourbon). My usual approach to our vacations is to load up on local booze and then drink it over the next few years. Still need to drink my Alaskan spruce tip gin, and Louisiana/NC rums…
If I didn’t sip conservatively I wouldn’t have wound up with ancient bottles of booze in the first place!
I like rye in rye & Canadian whiskeys, especially for a spicy Manhattan, and not in bourbons. I don’t know that I’ve ever had the BIB but the 114 proof will knock you on your ass. But as a neat sipper it isn’t my preference.
Stranger