Expert: Paul Wagner - 10/24/2008

Question
Hello,
A friend of mine gave me a bottle of regular Jim Beam and I can tell by the printing on the label that it is atleast ten or fifteen years old. I'm not worried about what its worth, because I've already drank most of it, but I'm just wondering if the letters/number on the bottom of the bottle, or the number on the bottom of the back label give any clue to how old the bottle is. The letters/numbers on the bottom of the bottle are an "I" in the top center, then a "21B" below to the left, and then "87" opposite the "21B". There is a number on the bottom of the back label that reads "10-3412". Let me know if you can! Thanks! The curiosity is killing me....

Answer
Hi Adam

These companies always make it very hard to figure out bottling dates, because that way they never have to worry about someone knowing that the bottle they are buying is very old, or very new.  But in this case, the only code I see on here that could be a bottling year is the 87--as in 1987.  

Paul Wagner