Does alchohol go bad?
I have an unopened bottle of Crown Royal that is really tempting me tonight. The problem - it is from 1975 (there is a paper label across the top with the date on it).
Should I drink it?
I don’t know… maybe Crown Royal will join the list of things (like wine and cheese) that get better with age. I’d wait for a more definitive answer, but I’d guess that the alcohol would kill any bad things.
I’ll be right over, I do believe that Crown Royal is aged just like any other canadian whiskey, Seagrams 7, 7 years, VO susposodly 25 years. I’ve drank VO that was in the folks liquor cabinet for almost 20 years, no ill effects, except looking like a drunk drinking almost the whole bottle when I became of age, because for some reason it was mostly water at that point.
It should be fine.
FTR, things like Baileys can go bad, very bad.
from a bartender…
most alcohols do not age once they are put in the bottle. The aging process occurs in the barrels, which impart flavor and color to the alcohol. The time specs refer to the time in the barrel. A bottle of “7 year old” Crown unopened from 1975 is just 7 years old. Bailey’s and other creamy liqueurs spoil because they are made with dairy products.
the VO designation does not mean 25 years. It’s the first level of the aging process, either 3 or 4 years minimum. VO (very old) can also be found as VS (very special). the next step is the VSOP (very special old pale), followed by Napoleon and XO. That’s how the cognacs work, and you can find some whiskeys with the same designations— such as Seagram’s VO and Very Old Barton.
Destination Unknown has it right. Liquor does not age in the bottle. It is the cask that absorbs nasty ketones and off flavors. Bottle aging works for wine that has its own fermenting agent on board. Distilling kills any of the yeast responsible and therefore bottle aging is of no significance for liquor.
Rest assured that none of this stopped me from buying several half-pint bottles of 12 year old Canadian Club Classic that I found in Los Angeles back in 1997. The date on their labels was 1972. Sadly, they’d all been stored near the liquor store’s television. The set’s heat had caused evaporation from many of the near-dozen flasks that I bought.
Then again, over five of them were still perfectly full. I paid about fifteen or twenty dollars for what amounted to a fifth (or more) of quite fine, twelve year old whiskey from a time when the blending bases were of much higher quality. I had a few drinks of some mighty fine old Canadian whiskey. Somewhere I still have one of the unopened bottles.
Your liquor should be just fine to consume. Crown Royal is a good brand, though a bit overpriced. Still, I’d rather drink it than Jack Spaniels. If there is a lot of loss from the bottle due to evaporation, don’t hope for much.
To quote Einstein “If you’re not sure, taste it.”
Yes dont leave baileys out on the counter too long
This sounds like someone had been taking nips off the bottle and replacing with water so no one would notice. Is there any chemical reaction to break down alcohol into something else (non-poisonous and non-intoxicating) which would take place spontaneously in a closed bottle? In most cases of booze going bad (e.g. curdled Bailey’s or vinegar wine) it’s not the alcohol that’s changing.
Not breaking down as much as evaporating… alcohol has a high vapor pressure, so I’d assume that there could be a lot of alcohol vapor in the empty space at the top. Any other theories?
I asked the same question around the begining of the year. I found 100+ minitures - some were Crown Royal - from the early 70’s
Was told they would be fine - and except for one bottle of vodka that had a musty smell all was good 
drink up!