Expert: Paul Wagner - 4/9/2009

Question
Dear Paul,i recently found two bottles of ambassador scotch whisky in my celler,the bottles have a seal that has the dates 1948-49 stamped on it. a bottle of the same whisky made now runs $118.00. do you think these would be valued much higher? say at an auction house or a whisky collector.or can you point me in the wright direction on where to sell these two bottles.any insight would be greatley appreciated.thang you

Answer
Hi Glenn

Distilled spirits like this don't change very much in the bottle at all, which means that your bottle won't taste much different from the way it tasted 60 years ago.  As a result, its value is also about the same as a current bottling.  

At the same time, you may find a bottle collector who is more interested in the container than the liquid inside.  Check with the guys at antiquebottles.com to see if this is one of the bottles that has become collectible.  If so, it might be worth well more than the $118 for the scotch!

Hope that helps.

Paul Wagner