The unpredictable changing face of a whisky once opened

[Quaich1]

A few words of whisky wisdom I have learned over these many years of enjoying whisky-

It's interesting that some whiskies are spectacular from the time the bottle is opened right to the last ounce in the bottle. Others seem to require time once the bottle is opened to
come to life extending aromas and flavors. Some opened whiskies that had virtually no sweetness at all for the first half of the bottle all of a sudden become gloriously sweet while maintaining other qualities. So not only are there differences between people in terms of how they experience the same whisky in general but also in terms of how long the bottle has been open and and how much is left in the bottle and all of this is in turn variable from whisky to whisky. Rules often go out the window. The magic of whisky....
_________________
"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[Alexppp]

Another aspect related to this is how the blender or master distiller knows what the result in the bottle will be like when evaluating and selecting casks. There's often so much difference between the first half and the second half of the bottle, if you factor in what the whisky is like in the cask, you realise there's even more alchemy going on...

[Quaich1]

[unblended]

i recently opened a bottle of arran whisky my first i ddnt like it had a prickely aftertaste
i did drink a glass of it but decided to leave it a while
maybe a fortnight later i retried it totally different the harsh prickeley taste was gone
so i see what you mean

[ralfy legend]

When I first started I just didn’t understand any fact of pouring and just leaving it then trying it, but how wrong was I , I leave nearly all whisky now days with only the nose being tried early, totally blows me away how whisky changes.

[Timp]

Same as you Ralfy, and as you say Murray, the magic of whisky.

As soon as I too discovered how the whisky changes in some bottles it made it more fascinating. A little like messing about with adding water to see how the flavours change in the glass.

I open all my bottles I buy ( for various reasons ) as I dont have the money for multiples, so change in the open bottle is something I am very interested in, if nothing more than proetcting what I have for the future.

Makes that purchase even more fun I think. Probably one of the reasons I cant leave em closed. Get it open, get it aired!



Good thread, cheers..