Does Whiskey Change in the Bottle?

[cowdery]

This is from an appreciation of scotch whisky blender Robert Hicks written by whiskey writer Charlie MacLean in WHISKY Magazine Issue 54, March 2006:

I asked him about how he maintained the consistency of Ballantine's and Teacher's from batch to batch.

"Do you save a reference sample from the previous batches?" I asked.

He looked at me pityingly.

"You have not been listening to what I told you about how whisky changes in the bottle. Even in the sealed bottle it changes slightly over time. We require unsold bottles to be returned for disgorging after five years (it used to be three years). Once the bottle is opened and air gets in, the change is much more rapid.

"So there is no way we can rely on samples from previous batches. We rely on our noses, on our memory of what the blends should smell like."

[gillmang]

I wonder what the returns are disgorged into?

I am tending to find that some bottles when kept partly full for a while seem not as good as wehn first opened. Some seem the same though, and some seem to get better. Not sure what to conclude from this.

From a connoisseur's point of view, the changes over time, especially in fully sealed bottles, may be positive.

While this company evidently has a certain practice, I believe it is not invariable in the industry.

Gary

[bourbonv]

Actually this does not suprise me coming from a Scotch distiller / blender. Just about all of them use caramel coloring in their product and it may not be as stable as a straight whiskey such as bourbon. Many of the blends will also use other flavoring agents as well and they may break down in the bottle with time. I see this as another reason that straight American whiskey is superior to the imports!

[TNbourbon]

Julian Van Winkle made what was to me an interesting comment as we shared a pour from a 1940-distilled Weller 8yo BIB during the recent Festival in Bardstown. He pondered aloud about what the proof might be of the whiskey he was drinking, explaining that most times, in bottles that old, the proof has lowered, contrary to what happens in the barrel. It strikes me, if that were the case, that the taste(s) would conversely be heightened -- and it certainly WAS fine whiskey!
I offered, and Julian took, the remains of the bottle. I wonder if he proofed it, or only ran further 'taste tests'.