Expert: Paul Wagner - 11/26/2011

Question
Hi,
I've been trying to look for information on a bottle of Courvoisier VS my parents dug up: https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=ea4b2d86c9&view=att&th=133ddd08113c5de4&attid=0.1&disp=inline&zw
Is the fact that it's 500 ml rather than 750 ml or has different labeling from most pictures I've found online special at all?

Thanks for your help!

Answer
HI E.

Sadly, the size of the bottle doesn't really have much to do with the value.  Distilled spirits like this are so high in alcohol that they don't change, for better or for worse, once they go into the bottle.  The good news is that this is fine to drink.  The bad news is that it hasn't appreciated in value the way some fine wines do.  This one is worth about $30 or so, maybe a bit less.  

And for some reason, Scotch bottles seem to be much more collectible than Cognac.  You could check with the guys as antiquebottles.com, but I am pretty sure this one is just about the liquid inside.

if it were mine, I would drink it or give it to someone who likes Cognac.

Sorry I can't give you more exciting news

Paul Wagner