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.
What we know as whisky maturation is a dance between 4 interrelated processes - extraction, evaporation, oxidation, and other chemical reactions. These all happen together, and very nicely, in oak barrels.
Colour, and oak flavour are extracted from the barrel, and the whisky will slowly evaporate while inside the barrel as well. Volatile compounds will evaporate, making the whisky smoother, deeper, and more complex with age. Fascinating chemical reactions happen between compounds in the wood, and in the whisky. As ethanol degrades lignin, for example, it creates new compounds, which themselves interact with other molecules and compounds in solution.
The age statement on a bottle of whisky refers to the time it spent in a barrel, doing those lovely things.
Common wisdom is that the whisky is done changing when it goes into glass. Certainly, extraction and evaporation are finished. But! Oxidation, and reactions between compounds in the whisky itself will continue, even in a sealed glass bottle. Usually this happens too slowly to notice, or the bottle gets drank before a change can be observed, but change certainly happens.
Long story short - whisky won’t go bad. In fact, sometimes it even goes ‘good’! I had the chance to try a young single malt, that was bottled in the 1970s. It was wonderful, and had signature aroma and flavour characteristics of a very old whisky. This is due to slow oxidation, and the glacial interaction between esters and congeners over time, which will happen no matter what vessel the whisky is in.
Whisky that has been exposed to too much oxygen, like if the bottle sits nearly empty for a long time, or has a bad seal, will often end up tasting flat and bland. But ‘good’ or ‘bad’ at this point, is a subjective matter. Only one way to find out!
Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
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.
gerbler@lemmy.world 1 month ago
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.
MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
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.
bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 1 month ago
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.