While whiskey doesn't necessarily expire, it does start to lose flavor and elements after it is opened. An unopened bottle of whiskey will last indefinitely if stored in proper condition. After opening a bottle of whiskey, you have as long as two years or as few as six months or less to drink it before it goes bad.
The best way to avoid oxidising your whisky tasting set, and changing the flavour, is simply to drink it. An open bottle of whisky lasts much longer if it's more than half full, with a shelf-life of up to five years. But once it reaches the halfway mark, this drops to just one or two years.
Some alcohol, like wine, gets better in the bottle over time, but this isn't true for all types of booze, including whiskey. Unopened whiskey can last indefinitely, but a bottle that has been opened will eventually expire due to oxidation.
Temperature, humidity, and light are all contributing factors to just how well the whisky will age. In a cask with the correct conditions in place, whisky will almost always become better with age.
50-year-old whisky is almost the holy grail in spirits terms. Very few casks of whisky will reach 50 years old and still be drinkable, representing a tiny, tiny fraction of a percent.
The chances of whisky going bad are very slim. While the taste might change over time, whisky doesn't technically go off. After a point, you may decide that a bottle has been opened for too many years and it tastes too different from what it originally was and consequently get rid of the remaining contents.
An unopened bottle of whiskey will last indefinitely if stored in proper condition. After opening a bottle of whiskey, you have as long as two years or as few as six months or less to drink it before it goes bad.
The good news is that liquor such as gin, vodka, whiskey, tequila, and rum, are considered shelf-stable. That means that as long as you store the bottle properly and it remains unopened, you can consider it safe to drink indefinitely.
Glenfiddich is a single malt Scotch whisky, this means the whisky was distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process and must be made from a mash of malted barley. Onsite there are 31 distinctively-shaped "swan neck" copper pot stills.
Unlike wine, whiskey does not continue to age in its bottle. Yes, while your prize bottle of Chateau Petrus will continue to gain in quality (and price) as the years go by, your bottle of single malt scotch won't.
The signs that whiskey has gone bad are an off-putting smell, a color change, and a harsh taste. If you notice any of these signs, it's best to discard the whiskey.
It's best to keep these, like any other bottles of whisky, in a place that has low temperature and minimal light. A bottle is worth storing if there are at least two thirds remaining – after that the oxygen begins to alter the taste of the whisky, as there is more room for it to breathe.
When stored properly, unopened whiskey has an almost indefinite shelf life. That's right. Your prized whiskey will be as good years from now as it is today.
Unopened whisky will not go bad or expire and generally lasts for decades, provided it's stored correctly. However, when bottles are opened environmental factors come into play so it's best not to keep too many bottles open at once if you plan to drink them over longer periods of time.
70-year-old whiskies are incredibly rare, but there's no doubt they are the ultimate gift to mark a special occasion.
Unopened liquor has an indefinite shelf life. Opened liquor lasts about a year or two before it goes bad, meaning it starts losing its color and flavor.
The base liquors (brandy, gin, rum, tequila, vodka, and whiskey) are the most shelf-stable distilled spirits. These average 40 percent alcohol by volume (80 proof—though some are stronger) and typically do not contain added sugars, so you can store these bottles for a very long time.
The Bottom Line. Glenfiddich 15 is both a groundbreaking whisky for its unusual aging method, and a classic traditional-style Glenfiddich. Solera blending is as fine a topic as any to discuss while enjoying a dram of this lovely Speyside malt.
The Glenfiddich distillery produces a wide range of whiskies, including the Glenfiddich 12-Year-Old, Glenfiddich 15-Year-Old, Glenfiddich 18-Year-Old, and Glenfiddich 21-Year-Old.
12 two-ounce shots.
Current offerings of 50 year old scotch, like Dalmore, can cost as much as $60,000 a bottle, making others, like Benromach, look like a veritable bargain at $14,500. Therefore, you will likely belong to one of two groups: those who can afford 50 year old scotch, or those who aspire to afford 50 year old scotch.
The whole purpose behind ageing spirits is to reduce the harsher flavours that are associated with raw alcohol, while introducing flavours that are found in the wood of the barrel, which adds a distinct taste.
Whisky that is aged for very long in a barrel (over 25 years) can start to lose the taste of the grain. However, in most cases, more years in the barrel means a more sophisticated taste with more notes to savour.