I know one of these guys! He let me try a "rare" and "antique" whiskey that he bought a fraction of a bottle for ~$2500. It was a 1950s bottle of some mass produced whiskey of the era and that's exactly what it tasted like. Whiskey. There was no more depth to it than Jim beam. It was just old.

[–] LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins@hexbear.net 14 points 7 months ago (2 children)

im pretty sure the only value in older whiskeys comes from longer aging in the barrel and once you bottle it that stops really changing so lol

[–] Belly_Beanis@hexbear.net 5 points 7 months ago

Correct. Whiskey doesn't age once it's out of the barrel, which is part of why it became a staple beverage across the world. Wine does age in the bottle and people are trying to add that prestige to whiskey.

What makes whiskey valuable is how long it was aged before it was bottled. Some distilleries have 100 year-old cycles. But a 50 year Macallen bottled in 1983 is going to taste the same as 50 year Macallan bottled in 2025. The consistent taste is one of the benefits of distilling old whiskey.

[–] CommunistBear@hexbear.net 5 points 7 months ago

I mean there could theoretically be manufacturing differences. If newer techniques replaced older techniques and in the process something was changed, flavor could be changed. A great example of this is pot still whiskey versus column still whiskey. They taste different because the physical properties of the stills are different which will have different degrees of rectification. Hell, the distillers of the 50s could have different palates than modern distillers and take different cuts. Or the yeast was changed which is a huge part of the flavor.

I don't mind genuine whiskey conneseirs. It's the speculators who don't give a shit what it tastes like and just want to make a buck that annoys me.

[–] fox@hexbear.net 5 points 7 months ago

Whiskey, and in fact all spirits, only age while in casks. Once they're bottled they stop aging and stay as they were when bottled. With extremely old spirits you'll maybe see some sediment fall out of solution and whatever slow reactions happen with the residual tannins, maybe some photochemical stuff if left in the sun.

Price in older spirits comes from two places:

It's expensive to store aging spirits in their barrels because warehouses cost money to run and the spirit is going to squat there for years and years and years before use
The longer a spirit ages the more evaporates. There's a lot less material available for a 20-year than a 5-year despite taking up just as much space to age.

Any additional dollars come from moneyed assholes wanting to flex on each other by having famous rare vintages on their shelves