Expert: Paul Wagner - 7/15/2006

Question
I have a question about the value and possibly the production date?

I have an old bottle COURVOISIER VSOP. I think my dad purchased it in the 70's while in the military abroad. I believe it's a dark green 750ml bottle with a gold/brownish lable on a 2 wheeled wooden holder with gold metal trim pieces also on the bottom of the bottle there is a letter "E" in the center. There is a little plaque with the words:
            COURVOISIER
       The Brandy of Napolean
              Cognac
hanging in front of the cart. Never been opened and was curious if it is worth anything. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Answer
Hi Tommy:

Distilled spirits like brandy and whiskey do not improve with age once they are bottled--the alcohol level is too high.  SO while they don't go bad ( the alcohol also protects them) they also don't increase a lot in value.  You might find a collector who would pay $50-100 for this bottle if it is in perfect condition, but my guess is that the final price would be closer to the lower end of the spectrum.  On the other hand...it still tastes quite good.  Why not pick a special occasion and open it up?

Paul Wagner