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johnnie

johnnie

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This is a question about a commercially available Whiskey so I hope it doesn't break the forum rules, apologies if it does.

Quite a few years ago I was given a couple of bottles of Dungourney 1964 Irish Whiskey by my employer as an xmas present. Sadly she passed away about 14 yrs ago. Apparently they are quite rare and expensive. I've never opened them, heck they're older than me and quite sentimental.

So, to my question. One bottle is crystal clear, while the other has what I can only describe as a thin layer of sediment on the bottom. If you jiggle the bottle it forms a sort of cloud in the whiskey. Anyone know what causes this and is it still drinkable? Not that I'm going to open it. The bottles have corks in them, could this be the reason?

Thanks

J
 
No idea, sorry, I've just been crass and looked up the price of a bottle. Crikey. :shock:
 
I selfishly offer myself up to test the " problematic " beverage for you.............. ;)
 
What a nice present. You probably won't want to drink them anyhow and certainly not let PD get his grubby mitts on them, when you see the price of a bottle is about £600-700 :eek: :eek:

I don't know first hand about the sediment but a quick google search seems to suggest that it is because the whisky would not have been filtered and it may be from the cask.

:thumb:
 
Yup, a bottle of whiskey from back then wouldn't have been chill filtered. It's pretty unlikely it was even mechanically filtered. It may be as simple as one bottle was from the top and one from the bottom that picked up a little detritus during the process that otherwise would have settled out to the bottom of the cask.

I wouldn't expect it to have any detrimental effect whatsoever on the beverage.

I echo the others - you are a lucky man indeed to have been given those.

PS. Just going to shove this thread off to the snug where it belongs... :thumb:
 
graysalchemy said:
That was my thoughts Calum
Click to expand...

The rest of my thoughts were the same as PD's!! I would give my right nut for a nip of that... :lol: (...even the cloudy one!) (bottle... I don't have a cloudy nut...)
 
calumscott said:
PS. Just going to shove this thread off to the snug where it belongs... :thumb:
Click to expand...


Ah that's where its gone :wha: To be honest I don't know what to do with them. Worth a lot, but quite sentimental.
 
johnnie said:
calumscott said:
PS. Just going to shove this thread off to the snug where it belongs... :thumb:
Click to expand...

Ah that's where its gone :wha: To be honest I don't know what to do with them. Worth a lot, but quite sentimental.
Click to expand...

Not quite at the same value but I've got two 14yo Scapas tucked away in a cupboard. Last I looked they were about 70 quid a bottle...

I can't see them getting opened any time soon either!

I would hang on to them. Rare whisky only gets rarer. You never know - win the lottery and you could justify opening one! :lol:
 
Are they the ones bottled in '94 (30 yr old) as this was from a forgotten/lost cask, or are they an earlier bottled variety from the original bottling?

Personally I would hold on to them :thumb:
 
If you do open a bottle DON'T put coke or any other p*ss in them. I would say you have great will power. I would have buckled years ago.
 
johnnie said:
calumscott said:
PS. Just going to shove this thread off to the snug where it belongs... :thumb:
Click to expand...


Ah that's where its gone :wha: To be honest I don't know what to do with them. Worth a lot, but quite sentimental.
Click to expand...

It's a drink. If somebody doesn't drink it sometime, what's the point?
OK, maybe wait for a special occasion, and keep the empties for the sentimental value.
Monetary value is only relevant if you're thinking of selling them, and you're not, judging from what you've said.
 
Looking on the web site theres a bottle of Springbank 1919 / 50 Year Old selling at £50,000 pounds... In the comments someones typed..." .very nice but £5.49p postage is a bit steep." ha haaa
 
Do they both have their full volume? It is not uncommon for old whisky to have cork failures similar to wine if they are not stored properly. What sometimes happen it the cork dries and air gets in along with pieces of dried cork looking like sediment. It doesn't cause a problem in terms of taste, just that you will see evaporation over the years and it devalues the bottle in terms of collect ability. I recently opened a very old bottle of Glen Nevis that that my brother as given around 20 years ago, there was a good 2 inches less in the bottle!

I would say open the bottle with sediment and keep the other! I have a fairly extensive collection of whisky (90+ bottles at last count) many special editions, very old or rare bottlings. For my 40th birthday I invited my 12 best mates round for a tasting session! We opened 10 'special' bottles and had samples from many others I have been collecting over the years. One of the guys did a rough count and reckoned we drank the best part of £2500 that night at current values.....my view is that they cost me no where near that as I bought them before they became rare (well most of them) and they are for drinking not an investment!

To share a quality dram with your friends is special thing, I wouldn't drink them on my own and would rather enjoy the pleasure and experience with my friends......they will remember tasting a very special 40 Yr Old Whisky and who they were with at the time!

R
 
oooh, sediment is really bad. That bottle is completely ruined and should be disposed of. For proper disposal, send it to me and I'll make sure that it is properly filtered through my liver and disposed of on my hop plants.
 
Blimey, I'm jealous to say the least, that's some fine whisky you have there.

I've seen similar in some of the bottles at one of the local brewing shops (also deals in high end whisky, some worth £7000 a bottle! :shock: )
Should be fine though.
 
Rento said:
Do they both have their full volume? It is not uncommon for old whisky to have cork failures similar to wine if they are not stored properly. What sometimes happen it the cork dries and air gets in along with pieces of dried cork looking like sediment. It doesn't cause a problem in terms of taste, just that you will see evaporation over the years and it devalues the bottle in terms of collect ability. I recently opened a very old bottle of Glen Nevis that that my brother as given around 20 years ago, there was a good 2 inches less in the bottle!

I would say open the bottle with sediment and keep the other! I have a fairly extensive collection of whisky (90+ bottles at last count) many special editions, very old or rare bottlings. For my 40th birthday I invited my 12 best mates round for a tasting session! We opened 10 'special' bottles and had samples from many others I have been collecting over the years. One of the guys did a rough count and reckoned we drank the best part of £2500 that night at current values.....my view is that they cost me no where near that as I bought them before they became rare (well most of them) and they are for drinking not an investment!

To share a quality dram with your friends is special thing, I wouldn't drink them on my own and would rather enjoy the pleasure and experience with my friends......they will remember tasting a very special 40 Yr Old Whisky and who they were with at the time!

R
Click to expand...

can i be your friend then??? :party: :party: :party:
 
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