Expert: Paul Wagner - 1/5/2009

Question
I am trying to determine the age of a bottle of courvoisier but the label doesn't seem to indicate the year bottled.  It states it is V.S. Very Special.  My guess it is 30 yrs. old possibly as I had it a long time.  It was imported by S.A. Taylor & Company, Miami, FLa.  The label tape accross the top of the bottle indicates U.S. Internal Revenue and the numbers: 651364088.  Thank you for any information you may have on this, or where I can get more information.  Just wondering what the value is.

Answer
Hi Betty

Your bottle doesn't indicate when it was bottled because distilled spirits really only develop and improve with age in the barrel, not the bottle.  They are so high in alcohol that once they are bottled they don't change much, for better or worse, the way wines do. So ti doesn't really matter how old the bottle is.

With that in mind, your bottle is probably worth more or less what a current bottling of the same product is: about $50-75.  Some of the older bottles have a collectible character--but these are usually scotch or bourbon bottles, not cognacs.

Sorry that I don't have more exciting news.

Paul Wagner