Does whiskey go bad?

A lot of people like to buy a bottle in advance to celebrate a certain milestone, for example: I have a friend who just had his first son, and he bought a bottle that was bottled on the same month and year that his son was born so that they can enjoy it together on his sons 21st birthday as his sons first drink! While this is an awesome idea a lot of people have concerns when storing a bottle for that long.

Some questions that I hear around issues like this are, "Does bourbon go bad" or "Does whiskey continue to age in the bottle?" and in short the answer is: "its complicated". Let me explain!

When people talk about "aging" a whiskey they are typically talking about while the whiskey is still in the barrel. The longer a whiskey lives in a barrel typically the more complex the pallette, the smoother the pour, and sadly the more expensive the bottle; however, as soon as that whiskey leaves the barrel, it is done "aging" as most people would use the term. But if the whiskey bottle is stored incorrectly the whiskey could lose some quality over time.

When storing whiskey the most important thing to remember is to protect the cork. If the bottle has a good seal on it and protected from direct sunlight, you can be very confident that the bottle not "go bad". To achieve this I always recommend the following 3 steps to ensure your cork does not deteriorate.

1. Store your bottle upright. Unlike wine the higher ABV in whiskey can deteriorate the cork so storing it on its side can cause the cork to go bad quicker.

2. Keep your bottle sealed. If you are going to be storing your bottle for a very long time, I always recommend taking extra measures to ensure the bottle has a good seal on it, such as wrapping it with Parafilm. This will help prevent evaporation and therefore will help keep that cork nice and fresh!

3. Keep your bottle in a shaded area. When a bottle is stored in sunlight it causes great fluctuations in temperature, which can speed up evaporation and dry that cork out faster. The change in temperature can also make the whiskey go bad on its own as well, and change the color which is irreversible!

If you follow these above three steps you can be confident that your whiskey will not go bad for an extended period of time!

To get started finding great pours near you, check out the app NEAT: Whiskey Finder!