Expert: Paul Wagner - 6/22/2008

Question
My husband's 82 year old aunt had this very old , unopened bottle in her liquor cabinet...is it still drinkable?
Thank you for your time.  Susan

Answer
HI Susan

Unlike some fine wines, distilled spirits don't generally change much, either for better or for worse, because the alcohol levels are so high.  So your bottle won't have much additional value for a real connoisseur--but it is certainly drinkable.  

And you might want to check--the bottles themselves can sometimes be collectible.  Before you do anything rash, check with the people at antiquebottles.com---they have a lot of good information, and you may find that the bottles are worth far more than the contents!

Paul Wagner