Expert: Paul Wagner - 8/25/2009

Question
I found at in my fathers estate an un-opened bottle of Black & White Sctoch in a "Premium 12 year old Gift Decanter made by Ge9orge Wade * sons.  It is a black and white scotty dog with a number "2712" in gold lettering on the bottom.  I am wondering how old it is (I think 80's?) and if it is worth anything.  The distellery is long gone and is now part of the Diageo company.  I found one site www.whiskey-online.com that is trying to sell the same thing (with a box I don't have) for 295 pounds!  

Any advice on the age/value would be appreciated.

Thanks, in advance

Answer
Hi Fred  

This is a great question---the scotch inside the bottle isn't worth that much money.  Distilled spirits like this are so high in alcohol that they dont' change, for better or for worse, over time.  And they don't seem to appreciated in value.

But your Scotty bottle is a collector's item.  I'm not an expert on those, but check with the guys at antiquebottles.com, and they can give you some advice on both value and how to sell it!

Paul Wagner