Expert: Paul Wagner - 12/10/2009

Question
Hi, Paul.

My grandmother passed away a few months ago and we going thru her cellar cleaning things out.  We keep coming across unopened bottles of old booze.  I was wondering if you could give me an idea if these are of any value. 1. Unopened Trocadero Elixir 1900 Extra Superior. 2. Cherryto P.Viarengo Torino-Italy wine-skier character bottle, unopened.  Aside from bottles being dirty from being in cellar for years, and the skier has some paint worn off, they are unopened, corks still in and tax stickers still on.  Any info would be appreciated.  Thanks. Karen

Answer
Hi Karen

This is cool!  Trocadero is an old rum distillery that closed down when Castro took over Cuba.  (the date 1900 was when it was founded, not when your rum was made.)  So how cool is that?  And distilled products like this are so high in alcohol that they don't change much over time.  The good news is that your should be perfectly good to drink.  The bad news is that it hasn't really appreciated in value the way some fine wines do.  I'd guess the liquor is worth about $30 or so.  But the bottle may be worth far more, because of the history involved.  Check with the guys at antiquebottles.com to see if they know of a market for these.  They are very helpful.

As for the other one...

The liquid here isn't worth very much at all...but again, this bottle might be collectible.  THe only ones I have seen have sold for about $15---but I haven't seen this one for sale.

Sorry I don't have more exciting news---but the Cuban rum is still worth a good story around the fire!

Paul Wagner