Can a Bottle of Bourbon Go BAD?

[@pattibaumann1856]

Love you guys! You bring a smile my day or....night:)

[@stevenreed007]

I would agree that after the bottle gets below the halfway point, the amount of air that’s in the bottle will change it’s flavor. BUT, I have experienced some bottles (like a Stagg Jr or an ECBP for example) get sweeter over a year or two of being opened. Most of my bottles will be opened and finished off in anywhere from a month to 6 months time… but I do have several bottles that were opened for special occasions that I keep around for annual pours (like an anniversary, our my kids bday, or remembering someone who passed away). The bottles that are lower proof (under 100-105) tend to be less enjoyable and less nuanced as the day it was opened. But the higher proof pours (like Little Book, SJ, ECBP, 1792 FP, MM SE4PR5, etc) have gotten more enjoyable over the years. It’s almost like the alcohol burn is replaced with a sweeter (or sometimes a darker fruit) and more vibrant cinnamons.

[@thebourbondoctors2636]

I think what we’re hearing is that we need to try this at a higher proof point.

[@MarieElliott-s1b]

These are very entertaining! Was your wife in the background ?

[@thebourbondoctors2636]

Thank you! Yes both our wives can be heard in the background

[@hikim]

Thanks for doing this. I’ve always wondered what would happen to a bottle over time. ;-) You two do seem quite buzzed, by the way. Looking forward to the other episodes recorded at the same time. Cheers!

[@thebourbondoctors2636]

Yeah, we’d had a bit by the time that episode was filmed.😜

[@lizjohnson9006]

Y'all should have another 😉 cheers!

[@cantonbourbonboyz3283]

Did you guys know these are very close to single barrels and the only reason they don’t call it single barrel is because residual from the last barrel is still there when dumping the next barrel… but they get dumped barrel by barrel and bottled… with that said, eagle rare can be very different … try with a different bottle…

[@boredbuddha]

I'd love to see the same test on a bottle from the same batch. To my knowledge, ER is a single barrel product so each bottle, unless buying multiple at one time from the same store, is going to be inherently different.

[@thebourbondoctors2636]

Years back, Eagle Rare was a single barrel product, but it’s not currently. Unfortunately, it’s not quite a true small batch either. We agree that it would be a better test to use something more consistent, but we didn’t have three bottles of small batch product of varying ages/levels of fullness. We’ll try this one again some time when we do.

[@MichaelHughes124]

At first I was going to rag on selecting a single-barrel bourbon, but then I googled and Eagle Rare isn't single barrel any more! All good things must come to an end... But Eagle Rare, at least traditionally, wasn't exactly the most consistent bottle on the shelf, year-to-year...

[@thebourbondoctors2636]

Yes, eagle rare hasn’t been single barrel for a bit. That being said, we don’t have too many bourbons of varying degrees of open. We tend to drink them.

[@jonathanplays1596]

agree. drink it up

[@mikem4432]

If the bottle cork or not tight it will go bad. Otherwise it should be good for decades. I know some that have opened a bottle of scotch 40 years ago.

[@markwood2452]

There’s a lot of science being ignored in regards to this experiment. IF a bourbon is higher proof will the dissipation of the alcohol over time be as noticeable compared to something low proof like Eagle Rare? And that’s just issue #1. I do like the finish the bottle in 6 hours theory tho. Gives us a goal to work up to😂

[@markwood2452]

Also, it wasn’t really necessary to mention y’all had done a few blinds before this. It was pretty clear from the get go😂🤣

[@thebourbondoctors2636]

Science often takes a back seat when we’re drinking bourbon

[@markwood2452]

@@thebourbondoctors2636 solid point.

[@jackbennett3133]

It doesn't matter!