Quote:
Originally Posted by Militoy
I can't agree with "JJJ"'s reply. Just last week, I had the opportunity to sample a "shelf-aged" bottle of Glenfiddich - and the flavor and charactor was nothing like the bottle I have at home. This was a plain-jane bottle of Glenfiddich 12 - that has been sitting on a back shelf in my teetotaler in-law's pantry for maybe 15-20 years or so. The flavor was smooth as silk, with a nutty vanilla finish and even a bit of smoke thrown in. I'm not usually too fond of Glenfiddich - I prefer the stronger iodine bite of Laphroaig, or the smoky smoothness of Bowmore - but I believe the next time I visit the in-laws, I may swap them a fresh bottle of Glenfiddich for their "stale" one!
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This is less likely to be a result of "shelf" ageing and more a result of subtle changes in the product of the years. There are countless factors that contribute to a finished dram and though producers work to their flavour profile changes do happen, it's just generally too subtle to notice unless you happen to taste a very old bottling beside a new one.
Its important to remember that
even single malt whisky is still blended from a selection of differing aged malts in the same distillary. This is the only way you can hope to get any kind of constancy in a brand but it is a fine art to master.
Products can oxidise in the bottle if not properly kept and this will render it with a flat, lifeless flavour or in some cases a slightly musty rancid smell although this would normally take many years if at all.
In terms of abv rising or dropping, Derek it depends on the external temperature. Alcohol evaporates at around 78.2ºC and water at 100ºC so an unsealed bottle in low temperature would slowly drop in abv and rise in higher temperatures. This is evident from watching barrels in the USA v casks in the UK where bourbon can come out of the barrel above the strength it left the still.
Obviously this is vastly dependent on a properly sealed bottle.
Russ