When she moved out of her house, my aunt found a few bottles of old scotch still in boxes, specifically, those listed above. Bottles still sealed and likely pretty old. Is there a market for these? How would someone sell them?
Thanks for any info.
You could check with Unicorn Autions
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I wouldn’t count on it, scotch’s in those age ranges are readily available so unless there’s a historical significance I wouldn’t count on a payday.
Are they listed on Wine Searcher or the Only Drams app?
K&L now has a spirits auction.
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Id think it would depend on when they were purchased. A 20 yr old scotch that was purchased retail in 1960 might have very favorable interest.
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But once in the bottle, scotch (and bourbon) doesn’t age any further, true??
It doesn’t age like it would in a wood cask.
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They don’t age further but there is still a considerable market for vintage whiskey (if the right typ:h…my understanding is there is a general view that the quality of ingredients (grain, wood etc) we’re all better back then … as an example a bottle of wild turkey from the 80s or 90s is worth a couple hundred dollars or several times what the current version goes for
Like others have said, it’s not the age statement but when the whisky was produced.
25 yr old whisky doesn’t sound that great if put in barrels in 2000.
But one from id guess pre 90’s is going to gain interest for every decade before it.
Hasn’t probably changed in bottle all that much, but that’s part of the chase as well, you are really tasting what is was like back then.
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So you can judge whether its worth the effort, the bottles you named would likely bring $100 to $150 each at auction. They are both brands of blended scotch, which includes both whisky made from malted barley and whisky made from other grains. Unfortunately old blended scotch doesn’t bring the same money as old single malt scotch whisky (whisky made exclusively from malted barley).
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Maybe/probably/presumably.
What does change is scarcity. And the perception, real or imagined, that “they don’t make them like that anymore.” If a desirable bottling (a BIG if), value could increase. And 55 degree storage isn’t a prerequisite.
@maureen_nelson:
Are these the bottles?
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/james+martin+fine+rare+20+old+blend+scotch+whisky+scotland/1/usa
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/ambassadeur+25+old+blend+scotch+whisky+scotland/1/usa
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Yes re Martins. Probably yes on the other one but I haven’t taken the bottle out of the box to look at it.
Whisky does age in bottle, or at least change, but very slowly. It’s not a frozen in time thing, as air does get in, with some closures more than others.
Old blended whiskies can be very interesting and there is a market for them, but no, you probably wouldn’t get much money for those.
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Locally, Schneiders might be interested. Ask for Terry, the wine manager. Nice guy.
The bottles aren’t in DC, but thanks.
This is not the definition of blended or single malt scotch whisky. Though it is true that single malt must be all barley, it must also come from the same distilerry. Even a teaspoon - or the implication of a teaspoon - of something from another distillery makes it blended. On the other side, while blended whisky CAN contain whisky made from other grains, it doesn’t by defintion. Not all blended whisky contains whisky made from other grains.
This thread really belongs in the Beer & Spirits forum. Shame on me for answereing here which I usually don’t do!
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Yes, I took a shortcut by not getting into what “single” means, however, by the SWA’s definition, “blended scotch whisky” is always a combination of scotch whisky distilled from malted barley and scotch whisky distilled from other cereals.
Whisky made solely from malted barley that is distilled at multiple distilleries would be labeled as “blended malt scotch whisky”, or “vatted malt” or “pure malt” under previous regulations.
Yes, agreed. The label must say malt, though no one says it in practical speech.
My point was more that the word “blended” didn’t always equal barley and other grains.
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