Community Stories

Found a bottle of whisky in the celler - any good?

mydeafcat
Posts
1,414
Likes
6,605
Dan S Dan S
$165 CAD is about $120 USD, so I don't see too much of a difference in this case.
It all depends on the product. When I visit a BevMo or even Costco in the US the price differential on most items is often substantial. Mind you, I'm not referring to products that originate in the UK; I usually buy rye or bourbon and my wife buys wine. Bourbon is especially high here.

Apparently, Canadians have it easier on some things than I thought!
https://fx5solutions.com/distilled-spirits-excise-tax-rates-around-the-globe/
 
Archer
Posts
29,671
Likes
76,828
mydeafcat mydeafcat
Wow! I did not realize Ontario has a variable rate on alcohol; most provinces have a flat tax. Indeed, it's Canada, not just BC as I indicated that charges more for alcohol than pretty much anywhere. Unless you're ordering a stiff cocktail in NYC, that is. With our present exchange rate that's a $30 drink.

Upon further investigation it seems that, depending on the tipple, when shopping at a liquor store we pay up to twice what our American friends do for the same product.

Well, the LCBO is the biggest single purchaser of beverage alcohol in the world, so you would think that they have some leverage to negotiate good pricing, but we don't see it on our end. Just went for a big shop, but no Scotch - beer, wine, port, rum, and cognac.

It's funny, almost every government-in-waiting here promises to privatize the LCBO, but when they make it into office they crunch the numbers and find that they are going to have to increase taxes, or drastically cut spending to make up for the billions in revenue that doing so would lose them, so they always back away from it. 馃槈
 
Pianotuna
Posts
358
Likes
608
JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
Clearly past it鈥檚 prime! As this may be a hazmat by this point, I will send you my address and I will safely dispose of it using a special filtration process through my kidneys.
Time and time again you show what a thoughtful human being you are.
 
Pianotuna
Posts
358
Likes
608
JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
It鈥檚 a burden.
I can see that.

if you luck out on the Lagavulin 16 I can at least suggest the Laga 8yo. Excellent drinking
 
JwRosenthal
Posts
16,307
Likes
44,994
Pianotuna Pianotuna
I can see that.

if you luck out on the Lagavulin 16 I can at least suggest the Laga 8yo. Excellent drinking
I think OP has decided to take one for the team and work on his own disposal system.
 
Nupero
Posts
836
Likes
6,706
Dan S Dan S
Lagavulin 16 is probably about $100-$120 at your local store. As noted above, it does not age in the bottle, so don't pay extra for the deteriorated cork. ;-)

I think I will have some tonight in honor of this thread, although it looks like I will need a new bottle afterwards.

Yes, whisky does not age in the bottle, but modern Lagavulin and old 80-90s bottlings are not the same stuff. Not even close. Both are smoky and that's about it. Old Lagavulin is way, way better because production methods used to be superior (better casks, different yeast strains and barley varieties, running the stills slower, you name it) Nowadays the demand for smoky whisky is so strong that the company has started to cut corners --> "optimization" of production = subpar whisky.

OP's bottling is old and worth hundreds, minimum. Maybe even four digits, but I am not an expert on vintage Laga. Since he is not a whisky aficionado, it makes little sense to drink it. The value for an occasional whisky drinker is just not there. Sell it and buy a case of modern Lagavulin 16. Much better bang for your buck.

EDIT: After some digging it seems OP's bottle is from about 1995-1998. That would put the value somewhere around $300-450.
Edited:
 
Dan S
Posts
24,246
Likes
53,991
Nupero Nupero
OP's bottling is old and worth hundreds, minimum. Maybe even four digits, but I am not an expert on vintage Laga. Since he is not a whisky aficionado, it makes little sense to drink it. The value for an occasional whisky drinker is just not there. Sell it and buy a case of modern Lagavulin 16. Much better bang for your buck.

Talk is cheap. See if @Nupero will put his money where his mouth is, OP. 馃榿
 
Togri v. 2.0
Posts
2,607
Likes
12,106
JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
I think OP has decided to take one for the team and work on his own disposal system.

Unfortunately, my own system does not respond well to very peaty whisky 馃檨 I like the slightly lighter whisky better.
 
Togri v. 2.0
Posts
2,607
Likes
12,106
Dan S Dan S
Talk is cheap. See if @Nupero will put his money where his mouth is, OP. 馃榿

Shouldn鈥檛 the expression be: put the bottle where the mouth is?

Naaah probably going back in my mother鈥檚 cellar for a couple more years. Now I am getting greedy ::stirthepot::
 
Nupero
Posts
836
Likes
6,706
Dan S Dan S
Talk is cheap. See if @Nupero will put his money where his mouth is, OP. 馃榿

I like vintage scotch, but I buy it 2cl at a time 馃榿 I would never drop 1k on a single bottle.

Togri v. 2.0 Togri v. 2.0
Shouldn鈥檛 the expression be: put the bottle where the mouth is?

Naaah probably going back in my mother鈥檚 cellar for a couple more years. Now I am getting greedy ::stirthepot::

Here's a protip: put it back in the cellar and sell it after seven years. You know, when the stock market has recovered and there's a new bubble. Whisky prices follow the stock market, much like most asset classes.
Edited:
 
Faz
Posts
3,833
Likes
22,917
Archer Archer
The 16 YO is $165 here in Ontario...
Same in Quebec and out of stock unfortunately.
 
kkt
Posts
1,699
Likes
1,654
Aged 16 years in cask is the typical aging time for Lagavulin. My local liquor store says $105 (in a state with relatively high liquor taxes) and out of stock. It's a very good whiskey, but don't expect this to be some super-valuable rare nector especially when the bottle has been open. Have a sip, and if you like it keep having sips once in a while. Enjoy.
 
Togri v. 2.0
Posts
2,607
Likes
12,106
Nupero Nupero
EDIT: After some digging it seems OP's bottle is from about 1995-1998. That would put the value somewhere around $300-450.

How do you tell? It should be older, as I believe I bought it in 2002/2003 along with all the other bottles, I bought at my after school work. I could be wrong of course but I don鈥檛 remember buying it after. There is no bottle code on the label but there is a code on the inside of the label. It is just hard to read 馃榾
 
Togri v. 2.0
Posts
2,607
Likes
12,106
Here is a photo of the inside of the label

Looks like: LLJL03525935
FF07A12E-80B6-40AE-947D-20D8B328E88F.png
 
Nupero
Posts
836
Likes
6,706
Togri v. 2.0 Togri v. 2.0
Here is a photo of the inside of the label

Looks like: LLJL03525935
FF07A12E-80B6-40AE-947D-20D8B328E88F.png

According to this post, code LLJL indicates a 1998 bottling.

"Hier geistern im Internet diverse Einteilungen, die ich noch nicht zu 100% verifizieren konnte. Demnach soll A = 1988, B = 1989, C = 1990, D = 1991, E= 1992, F = 1993, G = 1994, H = 1995, I = ausgelassen, J = 1996, K = 1997, L = 1998 und M = 1999."

Also, your bottle has the words 1816 ISLA embossed in glass. Older bottlings from 80s to early 90s have them painted in gold. Interestingly 1998 was the final year Lagavulin produced the White Horse Distillers series, so your 16yo Lagavulin is one of the last classics 馃榾

Togri v. 2.0 Togri v. 2.0
How do you tell? It should be older, as I believe I bought it in 2002/2003 along with all the other bottles

Just to make sure we are on the same page, date code refers to when the scotch was bottled, not distilled. So the spirit in this bottle was distilled in 1982, aged 16 years, bottled in 1998 and purchased by you in 2002/2003.
Edited:
 
tmw57
Posts
1,453
Likes
5,576
Davidt Davidt
Lagavulin is the devils juice. In a good way. Absolutely wonderful.

And the 16 year old is "The Bomb" as the young folks like to say
 
Togri v. 2.0
Posts
2,607
Likes
12,106
Nupero Nupero
According to this post, code LLJL indicates a 1998 bottling.

"Hier geistern im Internet diverse Einteilungen, die ich noch nicht zu 100% verifizieren konnte. Demnach soll A = 1988, B = 1989, C = 1990, D = 1991, E= 1992, F = 1993, G = 1994, H = 1995, I = ausgelassen, J = 1996, K = 1997, L = 1998 und M = 1999."

Also, your bottle has the words 1816 ISLA embossed in glass. Older bottlings from 80s to early 90s have them painted in gold. Interestingly 1998 was the final year Lagavulin produced the White Horse Distillers series, so your 16yo Lagavulin is one of the last classics 馃榾

Very interesting. Thank you so much for the help, very kind of you. The info is a bit harder to come by than Omega serial number charts 馃榾

It鈥檚 also me screwing around on the dates. Of course a bottling in 1998 fits me buying it in 2002.
 
Donn Chambers
Posts
2,702
Likes
3,599
Nupero Nupero
According to this post, code LLJL indicates a 1998 bottling.

"Hier geistern im Internet diverse Einteilungen, die ich noch nicht zu 100% verifizieren konnte. Demnach soll A = 1988, B = 1989, C = 1990, D = 1991, E= 1992, F = 1993, G = 1994, H = 1995, I = ausgelassen, J = 1996, K = 1997, L = 1998 und M = 1999."

Also, your bottle has the words 1816 ISLA embossed in glass. Older bottlings from 80s to early 90s have them painted in gold. Interestingly 1998 was the final year Lagavulin produced the White Horse Distillers series, so your 16yo Lagavulin is one of the last classics 馃榾



Just to make sure we are on the same page, date code refers to when the scotch was bottled, not distilled. So the spirit in this bottle was distilled in 1982, aged 16 years, bottled in 1998 and purchased by you in 2002/2003.

Just a small clarification about Scotch ages on the bottle. 16 years indicates the YOUNGEST barrel used in the blend that went into the bottle, not the age of all them. Single malts (unless it indicates it came from a single barrel) blend multiple barrels from the same distillery to get the taste profile the master distiller wants. There could be a lot older barrels used in the mix, and likely were in these older bottles before the popularity soared. That鈥檚 one reason older bottles are highly sought.
 
watchthinker
Posts
318
Likes
1,968
Is it good? Hmmm....maybe you should crowd source the question by issuing and open invite so we can check? 馃榾

I've never opened an old bottle but, in general, Lagavulin is a smokey, wonderful substance given to us as proof the almighty loves us and wants us to be happy. It is something that I think of drinking on a fall afternoon or during the holidays next to a fire.
 
Sign up or log in to reply...

Similar threads

Marsimaxam

If I Could Save Time in a Bottle

Marsimaxam Open Discussion
Marsimaxam
Marsimaxam
Posts
0
Views
858