OT -- Liquor find

wbradking

All,

 

My Father-In-Law passed away in late October, and my family and I spent the Thanksgiving week up in Central Kentucky with my Mother-In-Law.  While we were up there we were going through his office (he was a collector of lots of different things) and we found some old bottles of liquor.  Three bottles caught my eye. The first is a 750ml bottle of 95.5 proof Pusser's Rum with which my wife said she remembers seeing for as long as she can remember.  It has paper tax stamp in tact with a date of 1968.  The second is a bottle of 8 year old Wild Turkey 101 proof.  It too has a paper ATF tax stamp on it but there's no date on it.  However, if you look in the picture, you can see that some of the bourbon has evaporated away.  I'm guessing that it is as old as the Pusser's.  Lastly there's 375ml bottle of 112 proof Wild Turkey Rare Breed dated 4/25/94.  The other bottles seem to be pretty run of the mill.

 

So, I guess my questions are as follows:  Are there collectors out there willing to purchase old bottles like these?  Do they age in the bottle like a fine wine?  Should I be concerned about the Wild Turkey evaporating away?  Or should I enjoy them and toast the memory my FIL? The funny thing is that I never saw him drink a drop in his life. 

caliking

I don't believe they age like wine once bottled. My vote goes for enjoying them and toasting your FIL, at the Least for giving you a fine woman to marry.

Charlesmaneri

The liquor dose not age in the bottle it only ages in the barrel or cask as far as selling to a collector maybe but I would serve it at a memorial service for your father in law

Tjcoley

They may not age, but I don't think they go bad either. Toasting Dad with a 20 yo bottle of his Wild Turkey would be a nice gesture.

Vegas Eggus

Enjoy them in his memory. Most people have Pusser's from a trip to the BVI. In the 90's it came with a recipe for "Pain Killer's". Highly recommended!

Skiddymarker

Know the Pusser, standard stuff in Canada, great sipping rum, about $40 a bottle. 

Raise a glass to the FIL, fill it with his favourite. 

ringkingpin

Probably not much of a market on those bottles so drink up and enjoy!

Contrary to what a lot of people think, hard liquor does "age" in the bottle, a very little bit.  Even a sealed bottle over time will evaporate some of the alcohol, very very slowly, resulting in a product that has more flavor and is a little more mellow. Are those bottles all sealed?  

I've had a number of napolean era cognac bottles and some very old maderia bottles where the level was well below the shoulders. 

henapple

I always tell my wife it evaporates... Quickly

Crimsongator

There is a strong JD collectors market out there. You could find some of the pages on FB and post that pic and get a value.

wbradking

Thanks guys.  I guess I'll just enjoy them the way they were intended to be enjoyed.  No use for them sitting on a shelf.  Cheers!

Jeremiah

We opened a twenty five year old bottle of crown royal at our wedding a few years back. It definitely didn't mellow!! Yuck.

RRP

Drink it as the others have said. BTW here is a bottle of Duty Free Drambuie bottled in 1968 that is still a delight which I enjoy in an occasional Rusty Nail...that's just straight up Drambuie and Scotch.