How Long Can I Keep a Bottle Open?

Open Bottles

The age old question for collectors. Once I open a bottle of whiskey, how long before it goes bad? There are staunch whiskey "connoisseurs" out there who act like once you have opened a bottle, it starts to oxidize so quickly, that you should either drink it all immediately or pour it down the drain, or else risk drinking tainted whiskey. Let me say, I'm not that guy. I have a couple bottles that have been opened for maybe four years and primitive palate can't tell the difference.

I should note, that there is a lot of science to it that I don't fully understand and am not quite qualified to answer. So, I'm setting out to do some research to answer the question. 

First, what happens to a bottle once it is opened? Air, oxygen specifically, gets inside the bottle once the cork is pulled and reacts with the liquid gold inside. Of course, each bottle will react differently. Most noticeably, the color and flavor will change. This reaction is called oxidizing. 

Feast Magazine tells us tat the best way to avoid the dreaded oxidization is to simply drink it. That is a good tip. They do point out that a fuller bottle will last longer, with a bottle more than half full lasting up to five years, while a bottle less than half full will last closer to two years. They point out that to make whiskey last longer, the best thing to do is to decant the whiskey into smaller bottles.

The Whiskey Wash also points out that while we wish it would, whiskey doesn't last forever. They do point out that there is one benefit of oxidizing. The whiskey has a tendency to open up a bit after a few months. Going back to a bottle after the flavor has opened up may create a better flavor experience than before. The whiskey wash also points out to limit light and control room temperature. 

Whiskey.com tells us that an unopened bottle could last ten years or more in the conditions. They take it to a different extreme for opened bottles, saying that they may only last between six months to two years.

There's a lot of information out there on this topic. I encourage you to do some of your own trial and error on the topic. Maybe, you could even do your own AB test with a bottle decanted to a smaller bottle, but leaving some in the original to see which will age oxidize and change faster. There are countless articles out there as well. There are a few things that I think these articles leave out though. First is climate. A bottle is going to react differently in different climates, so make sure to consider that when it comes to temperature and relative humidity when it comes to picking a storage location. The second factor is palate. Everyone tastes whiskey differently. What may be bad to someone else, may be fine to you. Everyone's whiskey journal is different and I hope you are enjoying yours. 

Slainte!