Expert: Paul Wagner - 3/5/2010

Question
I have 5 bottles of old pre prohibition whiskey unopened. presumably bottled in Patton PA. There are no markings on the bottles and i have not been able to find anything on them as of yet. Anything ideas would be helpful!

Answer
Hi ALex

Without any markings on them, it will be difficult to give you any solid information.  Distilled spirits like this do not change much over time, because the alcohol levels are so high.  Yours may be fine to drink, but they won't have appreciated the way some fine wines do.  

I would guess that the bottles are probably worth more than the liquor inside; check with the guys at antiquebottles.com to see what they say.  And it will help if you can send them a photo.  

I'd estimate the liquor as being worth about what a current bottling of something similar might cost--maybe about $25-35 a bottle.

Hope that helps.  And I am sorry I can't give you more exciting news

Paul Wagner