Old Scots Whisky

[Jeff423]

I just found an old bottle of Haig and Haig Pinch in the basement. Its still sealed, has two tax stamps on the bottle (Federal and Missouri) and it's in the original triangular box. Family legend says it was purchased in 1950.
I know whisky doesn't age once it it's in glass (and this is a blend and not a single malt) but is there a market for an unopened 69 yr. old bottle of scotch?

 

[Rudi]

Very cool! A good question for whoever runs your local shop.

 

[arjay]

I haven’t seen a bottle of Pinch in quite awhile.I would suspect there would be some collector interest in that package.

 

[6518John]

I would start here

How Old Is Your Haig Whisky? Expert Guide to Aging Haig

 

[Rustyt1953]

Paging Absalom!

 

[LoboGunLeather]

No one wants that old stuff. I can save you the trouble of disposing of it, all you have to do is send it to me.

 

[Bill Bates]

Wait for a special occasion. Then open that bottle and share it with some special friends.

There is a market for whisky old and not so old. I use to collect but lost interest so slowly I liquidated it by drinking the stuff. To be honest selling stuff is somewhat difficult but there are auctions that deal in whisky. It might not be worth the hassle to sell just one bottle of what is a kind of common bottling.

My last bottle out of my collection was a post war bottle of Haig & Haig Five Star blended Scotch Whisky. At my age you never no when you won't be around and it will be someone else trying it.

I've been sitting on this old bottle, of Haig & Haig Five Star for years. On my last birthday I decided I better open it so myself and a couple of very close could try it out. So it was good cigars and a whisky that went in the bottle near when I was born. It was actually pretty good. Best of all the bottle isn't empty.

Go ahead and enjoy it. The best part of it is you can experience what whisky tasted like many years ago. For sure Scotch whisky styles have changed and shift over the years.

 

[Absalom]

I’m a drinking hobbyist, not an investment collector (I’ve never let a bottle leave my “collection” still full), so I can’t provide insight on actual market value and conditions.

But depending on a lot of factors, these older bottling do gain in value. A problem is that it is illegal in most states to buy and sell spirits privately, without a license.

Take a look at this page from the LA Whiskey Society. They address a lot of the basic questions: (but keep in mind they buy and sell, so they want you )

Value of Whiskey - How to Sell Bourbon, Rye, Single Malt, and Old Liquor

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I 1985 I bought a pint each of Crown Royal, Haig and Haig Pinch, and Beefeaters. I put them in the back of the bottom shelf of my gun safe, and prompt forgot about them. When we moved to the Condo 5 years ago the family was amazed that they were there. The Crown Royal was opened at Christmas 2 years ago. They tell us whiskey doesn't age or improve once bottled, if that is true, the old stuff was so fantastic when bottled the new stuff isn't holding a candle. I believe differently. I think it will improve a little and very slowly. People find old full bottles from time to time, some of them pretty cheap stuff, when they are opened, NOBODY COMPLAINS about how nasty it is!

Ivan

 

[max]

A couple of Sundays ago, the CBS morning show did a segment on old bottles and the interest in them.

 

[H Richard]

Whiskey doesn't age in the bottle but it "mellows". (as long as it is sealed tightly.

 

[sheepdawg]

One of my favorite memories was when a dear, departed, whiskey loving friend of mine found one of his old hiding places and came across a bottle of Very Old Barton that he somehow remembered putting there at least twenty years earlier. Very Old Barton is decent cheap whiskey, nothing to sit back and savor but somehow that battle managed to get opened and it was extremely good, better than I ever remembered cheap whiskey tasting like. I'd go along with H. Richard and say whiskeys do mellow in the bottle with time.

And I've got some single barrel George Dickel that's been mellowing for at least a month.

 

[Absalom]

The important thing to understand is that for whiskey and other brown spirits (like cognac or rum), aging is not just the passing of time, but chemical reaction of the spirit either with the wood of the barrel (desired) or with air (generally undesirable).

If you put new whiskey distillate in a steel or glass container and seal it airtight, after 10 years it will be 10 years older, but it will not have aged. Most whiskey aficionados prefer the term “maturation“ to “aging” when talking about whiskey in barrels.

Mature whiskey attains up to three-fourths (depending on whom you talk to) of its characteristics from the interaction of the spirit with the oak cask. The only thing that can (scientifically) happen once the stuff is in the bottle is oxidation, reaction with air. In the long term, oxidation degrades the aroma and flavor, but there are indeed quite a few whiskeys that will benefit from some moderate initial air after opening.

 

[Jeff423]

I would start here

How Old Is Your Haig Whisky? Expert Guide to Aging Haig

Thanks for that link. It looks like I have one of the most common and least valuable bottles of scotch around. There also maybe legal issues in selling it. I'm going to do some more research but drinking it may be the best option.

 

[JohnRippert]

Dad kept his spirits in a cabinet in the garage. Most were bought back in the '70s. I agree with H Richard on the mellowing with age. Everything that I have had from that stash of Dad's has been smoooooooooooth. There is a 45 year old bottle of Johnny Walker Red that is amazing. I finally finished a bottle of Bacardi Anejo rum that was as smoky as a good peaty Irish. It made some great Cuba Libres. Mexican Oso Negro vodka that goes down like water.

It may not "age" in the bottle, but it does get better. I think being in the garage and going through the seasonal temperature changes enhanced that.

 

[s&wchad]

Nice find on the Pinch! I'll second enjoying it on a special occasion. It might be worth good money to the right person, but you don't often get the chance to savor something that very few others can experience.

I love finding old goodies at estate sales. The companies are not legally allowed to sell liquor, but some of the folks know me well enough to let me have their "collector bottles". I always promise to empty them when I get home... eventually!

I've been nursing this "Souvenir" bottle of Dickel for some time. The bottle is marked "27 years of stubborness" and "First Bottling - October 1964", so I guess it dates to 1991. Yum!

I've got this bottle of Grand Old Par in the que: another estate find! I think this one dates to the '40's - 50's, but the lead foil is still intact, the whisky is clear and there's very little evaporation loss. Grand Old Par was later marked "Aged 12 years", so I suspect it will be just lovely too!

 

[LPD256]

I was in Scotland last week and had the opportunity for a few “tastings”. The attached photo shows a couple of barrels at Talisker that were put up in 1979. Recently checked, these barrels have about 30% of the original volume remaining. Interestingly, distilling Gin has become a money-making venture for Whisky distillers. Whisky has to be held for a minimum of 3.5 years before it can be sold. Gin can be sold immediately. There is no aging requirement. Therefore it provides immediate cash flow to fund the continued whisky business.

 

[Absalom]

I've been nursing this "Souvenir" bottle of Dickel for some time. The bottle is marked "27 years of stubborness" and "First Bottling - October 1964", so I guess it dates to 1991. Yum!
....

Umm... no, sorry.

I don‘t know how much nerdiness you guys can handle, but I‘m going to inflict it on you anyways.

These bottles are reasonably well-known, not least because they were used as props in the early Star Trek show (minus the Dickel label).

They were bottled as commemoratives for the first bottling of Tennessee Whiskey by the George Dickel Distillery, which was completed in 1958 by the Schenley Corporation. Schenley‘s boss, Lew Rosenstiel, was upset that he‘d lost out to Brown-Forman in acquiring Jack Daniel‘s, and was hoping to compete by making his own Tennessee whiskey.

The 27 years refers not to the whiskey‘s age, but to the years between 1937, when Schenley acquired the brand (then called Cascade Hollow and distilled as a bourbon in Kentucky), and 1964, when the first stuff was ready to be bottled in Tullahoma.

So your bottle‘s content is of undetermined age. I think the bottles were sold into the 1970s.

 

[italiansport]

I acquired around 30 bottles of old single malt scotch whiskey around 3 years ago in a trade. All the bottles had their tops sealed with some kind of adhesive plastic which takes some effort to remove. I've drunk some of them in the past 3 years and everyone I uncorked was completely full and in excellent condition. The only problem I hit was the corks tend to break in half when pulled.
Jim

 

[s&wchad]

Umm... no, sorry.

I don‘t know how much nerdiness you guys can handle, but I‘m going to inflict it on you anyways.

These bottles are reasonably well-known, not least because they were used as props in the early Star Trek show (minus the Dickel label)...

Awesome, thanks for all the information. I love the Star Trek connection!