Whisky Forum - Storing Whisky

albo · Master Of Malts Joined: 22 Mar 2011 Posts: 1888

Afternoon all,

I'm having a bit of a rethink as to where I keep my whisky. At the moment it's in a hall cupboard, I was given the top shelf by the wife when we moved, but it appears I have expanded out of that top shelf and shes no happy.

2 options -
1) Drink more than I buy Very Happy

2) Move the whisky collection elsewhere. And by elsewhere, I mean out to the garage.

And I don't think option 1 will be a good long term plan, so I think the move is the way forwards.

So I'm wondering what the pitfalls (if any?) are in storing botteled whisky in a garage?
So far I have the following concerns. . .

Temperature - The temp in the garage will vary massively where as inside it's pretty consistant, possibly down to 0 degrees and up to maybe 20, where as the house will be a constant 20 - 22 I'd say.

Critters - Spiders, wasps, other creepy crawlies could take a liking to any cardboard boxes etc, on the whole this wouldnt be a problem but for any long term investment whisky this could have a detramental effect on price.

Risk of being stollen - The garage isn't attached to the house and as such runs a hightened risk of being broken into, there is a few Â£100 worth of whisky, is it more of a risk? I suppose its just as likly that someone would break into the house??
Also on that point, insurance, while I don't have specific insurance for my whisky I'd say the bulk of it would be covered by house insurance, would this still be the case if it were in the garage?

So I guess dear forum, what im asking is, where do you keep your whisky? And does the garage idea sound like a good move or a bad one?

Quaich1 · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:49 pm Post subject: Re: Storing Whisky

albo · Master Of Malts Joined: 22 Mar 2011 Posts: 1888

The garage isn't heated, so I guess it's a case of how the whisky would react to temparature changes?

For clarification, I am only talking about sealed bottles in the garage not opened bottles, I don't know if this makes a difference, but I would still have my sipping shelf inside the house.

Quaich1 · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 3:46 pm Post subject:

Keith · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 5:09 pm Post subject:

I dont think the cold in the garage will harm the whisky in anyway but if it is humid or damp this could possibly harm the packaging or labels which is not important if you intend to drink it but very important if you intend to sell it one day. Labels can appear stained or paper boxes/tubes could delvelop a musty odour.

Quaich1 · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 5:11 pm Post subject:

Tom W · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 8:51 pm Post subject:

Beer in the garage.

Whisky in the house.

no but's.
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minesascotch · Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 2:23 pm Post subject:

If storing in the house split up your collection, if you have people you can trust keep some of it with them ! just in case of a fire or Mr Burgler finds your stash, he might be happy with a bottle or two, however if he finds the mother load he might well take your car as well , it has been known.

Re insurance, you are best to make a full list and total up the price of your collection, you might be surprised at how much this would cost to replace ( I know I was and keep it away from the wife ! ) you may be best to contact your insurance company and just ask the question about your collection and single item cover if you have an expensive bottle or two, it is better to be safe than sorry when the words " NOT COVERED " by your policy are used when you make a claim.

Good luck.

drPete · Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 7:07 am Post subject:

I use parafilm around the foil to prevent any excess drop in fill level (had a bad experience with a PE Ist release)
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