Expert: Paul Wagner - 2/19/2010

Question
Dear Paul, I have the following sealed  bottles of liquor and am inquiring if they are worth anything.  Calvert's Special Blended Whiskey 1 Qt. Bottle 90 proof Sealed with a 1937 Il. Revenue Stamp & US Internal Revenue Seal #21-1981629,   Seagram's V.O. Whiskey 750ml bottle sealed 1972 with Canadian # B9839941 & US Internal Revenue #67363445  I-549,   and Marshall Field's Frango Mint Liqueur 54 proof sealed and dated 1984. Please advise. Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hi Mitchell

These are pretty common bottles.  They may be old, but distilled spirits like this don't improve with age in the bottle the way some fine wines do. The good news is that they are fine to drink.  The bad news is that these won't have any additional value--I'd estimate them at something like $15-25 each. IF they were mine, I would just go ahead and drink them.

You might find that the bottles themselves are worth more than the liquid inside.  Check with the guys at antiquebottles.com to see if any of your bottles are on their collectible list.

Sorry that I can't give you more exciting news

Paul Wagner