Does alcohol expire? Specifically whiskey?
Does alcohol expire? Specifically whiskey?
My family and I were going through my grandmother's apartment after her passing to get her estate in order. After all was said and done, I got a bunch of alcohol she had for guests mostly, including two types of whiskey (scotch and regular), some gin, and three flavors of vodka. I tried some of the Crown Royal and it didn't taste too good. Also didn't taste like the last glass of whiskey I had before. Of course I always hear about stuff aged 4 years or 12 years etc. so I wonder if it's a "gone bad" thing or a me thing.
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It may change taste profile depending on heat and sun/light exposure but it's still alcohol unless the bottle is compromised and it evaporated.
Aging refers strictly to how long the alcohol was left in a barrel before being put into a glass bottle. A 10 year old bottle of scotch is still only a 10 year old even if it was bought in 1970.
This is also why a lot of beer and other alcohol is bottled in brown bottles. The brown glass blocks some amount of UV exposure which can affect the final product over time.
Green glass has no such benefit though. Just looks nice.
I'll add in her something I learned recently - whisky can become "corked", ie if the stopper is made of cork, it can go bad and ruin the drink's flavour. I thought this was just a wine thing, but apparently it can happen with whisky too.
I'd have to wonder if storing a corked bottle of whiskey at an angle to keep the cork wet like with wine keeps it intact.
That alcohol percentage in whiskey is high enough that the alcohol would slowly eat away at the cork. To make sure the cork doesn't dry out it is best to keep the bottle upside down for a few seconds once every ~6 months.