Too good to drink
- Thread starter blindmouse
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I have been in many sticky situations where I didnt know if I would come home alive. I would say if you want to drink it then go for it, money is only a tool, and as such maybe loosen up the purse strings and have a drink. BTW if you need a reason to drink this expensive scotch talk to a real alcoholic they can give yo plenty reasons to celebrate. Just my thoughts out loud.
I had a bottle of 1999 Midleton Very Rare Irish Whisky that was give to me. The bottle came in a nice latched wooden case with certificate of authenticity and a form for registering ownership with the distiller. I held the bottle for 15 years and finally realized I would probably never open it. So when my daughter told me she was in charge of a charity raffle for my 8 year old grandson's travel baseball team, well I realized it was time to pay it forward, so I donated the bottle. Interestingly the winner told me he was going to keep the bottle next to his bottle of Pappys on his home bar, for a special occasion. I only hope his is as special as mine was.
Mine is Lagavulin as well. I tracked down an old bottle from the old White Horse distillery. Can't bring myself to open it.
Ours are mostly wine, we attend a lot of wine dinners and have purchased more than our fair share of wine. We don't collect, we just love good food and drink! We are constantly looking for occasions that justify opening a bottle since you can't just pop open a $70 dollar of wine because it's there, at least we can't. That being said, our reasons to open them have gotten much loose.
There is no such thing as too good to drink.
There are too many happy occasions in life to keep a bottle for too long. Every time I decide to put away something for a special time, a friend that I haven't seen for many years comes to visit, or something great happens that merits a celebration. I'm glad to have the memory of having shared something exceptional, and it seems like another bottle of something else always appears to take its place.
Once I had a chance to enjoy a drink that someone else had saved for a special occasion. In Okinawa, awamori--a distilled rice liquor--is the drink of choice. Newly distilled awamori can be very smooth or very raw, but it always seems to improve with age. Many years ago, there was a tradition that when a son was born to a family, a large clay pot of awamori would be put aside to be enjoyed when he became an adult. Some people say that the original tradition was to save it for his own funeral, still far off in the future, so that all of his guests would enjoy themselves.
Back in the 40s, Japanese soldiers flooded into the islands to prepare for war. To save their awamori from being commandeered by the thirsty Japanese soldiers, many Okinawans hid their pots of awamori in their family tombs, thinking that it would be safe there until everything blew over. Unfortunately, things got much worse and many of them were killed. And the awamori that they had stored away in the tombs was forgotten.
A couple of years ago, one of my friends was visiting some people he knew out on a small island off the coast of the main island of Okinawa. His hosts had just discovered urn after urn of awamori stored in a long-abandoned tomb that belonged to a branch of their family. Nobody knew how old it was--it was certainly distilled before WWII. They filled up a couple of litre bottles for him to take with him when he left. He was nice enough to save some for me.
It was like nothing that I've ever tasted. Deep, rich notes, like a fine rum. At the same time, it had hints of leather and funk, like an aged Belgian beer. I would never have guessed that it was awamori. It felt like a truly special moment when we drank it, and it made me think of the people who had put it aside decades ago, filled with their own hopes for a future that never turned out as they had expected. And by the time we called it a night, it was gone forever. That seems about right.
Once I had a chance to enjoy a drink that someone else had saved for a special occasion. In Okinawa, awamori--a distilled rice liquor--is the drink of choice. Newly distilled awamori can be very smooth or very raw, but it always seems to improve with age. Many years ago, there was a tradition that when a son was born to a family, a large clay pot of awamori would be put aside to be enjoyed when he became an adult. Some people say that the original tradition was to save it for his own funeral, still far off in the future, so that all of his guests would enjoy themselves.
Back in the 40s, Japanese soldiers flooded into the islands to prepare for war. To save their awamori from being commandeered by the thirsty Japanese soldiers, many Okinawans hid their pots of awamori in their family tombs, thinking that it would be safe there until everything blew over. Unfortunately, things got much worse and many of them were killed. And the awamori that they had stored away in the tombs was forgotten.
A couple of years ago, one of my friends was visiting some people he knew out on a small island off the coast of the main island of Okinawa. His hosts had just discovered urn after urn of awamori stored in a long-abandoned tomb that belonged to a branch of their family. Nobody knew how old it was--it was certainly distilled before WWII. They filled up a couple of litre bottles for him to take with him when he left. He was nice enough to save some for me.
It was like nothing that I've ever tasted. Deep, rich notes, like a fine rum. At the same time, it had hints of leather and funk, like an aged Belgian beer. I would never have guessed that it was awamori. It felt like a truly special moment when we drank it, and it made me think of the people who had put it aside decades ago, filled with their own hopes for a future that never turned out as they had expected. And by the time we called it a night, it was gone forever. That seems about right.
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Here's a thought on how to drink a "special" bottle of scotch (or similar hard liquor ... won't work for wine ...) that has special value to you.
Get the bottle, and gather around the people closest to you who would appreciate the special occasion of trying a bit of the liquor. Everyone gets one small drink from the bottle. Now, top up the bottle with "something good" of similar character. Get a decent notebook and write down the date, have everyone write their name and sign (do both as some signatures can be illegible) and then note what you put in to top it up.
Repeat for any special occasion.
If you keep topping it up with new stuff, there will always be a little bit of the old original contents in there. You can pass the bottle and the book on to your son, and pretty soon you have a family heirloom and the thought of "having a drink with your great-grandfather" isn't just a fancy notion but ... in some ways ... a reality.
Get the bottle, and gather around the people closest to you who would appreciate the special occasion of trying a bit of the liquor. Everyone gets one small drink from the bottle. Now, top up the bottle with "something good" of similar character. Get a decent notebook and write down the date, have everyone write their name and sign (do both as some signatures can be illegible) and then note what you put in to top it up.
Repeat for any special occasion.
If you keep topping it up with new stuff, there will always be a little bit of the old original contents in there. You can pass the bottle and the book on to your son, and pretty soon you have a family heirloom and the thought of "having a drink with your great-grandfather" isn't just a fancy notion but ... in some ways ... a reality.
Very Classy Sir
ive been told that once spirits are bottled it doesn't change with age. The only aging that has effect is in the cask.
There is nothing too good to open! Enjoy it a bit at a time preferably with good friends.
ive been told that once spirits are bottled it doesn't change with age. The only aging that has effect is in the cask.
There is nothing too good to open! Enjoy it a bit at a time preferably with good friends.
I have a 1/4 bottle of Crown Royal cask no 16, not anything super expensive, but the fact that they dont make it anymore is why I wont let myself drink it.
To me the notion of a whisky being too good to drink means that it has skyrocketed in value on the collector market and the question becomes do you drink it or sell it for a tidy sum. I buy all of my whisky with the intention of drinking it, and never for investment. But recently I let go of two bottles of Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year Old that came from Stitzel Weller stock, one was a 2006 release and the other a 2007. I paid $75 for each of them when they were released. I sold one for $750 and another $875.
I still have a few bottles of whisky left so I doubt I will miss them.
http://www.whiskybase.com/profile/jsaliga/collection
--Jerome
I still have a few bottles of whisky left so I doubt I will miss them.
http://www.whiskybase.com/profile/jsaliga/collection
--Jerome
This.
I'm fortunate enough to be married to a woman who also enjoys the fine things in life - her passion is wine, mine is single malt scotch. Whether she buys me a bottle or sees one and just tells me to grab it, I've had the pleasure of sampling some top shelf whiskies. There have been some 30 yo Laphroaigs and Macallans, 28 yo Dalmores, 25 yo Glenmorangies, etc...and every single one has been a joy to drink, and even more of a joy when shared with good friends. Something about sipping a special malt with friends and family, and being able to share my stocks with others is an awesome thing.
So I don't think there's a spirit that's too good to drink, there are just better times and situations in which to drink them!
That said, I've got a nice Macallan 1861 Replica I bought for my 50th birthday that's crying to get out...
;-)
With that kind of ROI, I'd have sold them, too. Well, at least one of them!!
Holy crap, had no idea those were that valuable. I just gave my last old Stitzel Pappy 15 to a friend for a wedding present. I still have an open bottle of Pappy 12 and 20 from that distillery.
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+1. We bought a case (yes) of the 2005 Columbia crest reserve Cabernet Sauvignon!!! This was just before it was scored by Wine Spectator. After scoring, the wine was totally unavailable.
Based on experience with this winery and Washington state wines, we reckoned that it would peak around year 7-10. It did.
Just finished the last bottle-special occasion with just the two of us!
When we set up the cellar, we decided that we are NOT COLLECTORS. We are CONSUMERS. There is no prize for accumulating the most stuff, or the most good stuff. Need to enjoy the day IMO.
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