Everything You Need to Know Before Buying Vintage Whiskeys
The best or most difficult part of curating vintage collections at the country's best whiskey bars is tracking down an ever-shrinking supply of old bottles as demand continues to increase.
So it makes little sense why Jared Hyman, curator at Jack Rose Dining Saloon and manager at Bourbon, both in D.C., wants competition. After all, who doesn't dream of slipping into a basement somewhere and finding a bottle of whiskey our grandfather bought when he was our age?
But as generous as Hyman is, he wants everyone to appreciate what's in the glass, whether it was bottled in 2005 or 1905.
First, let's get something clear: unlike wine, whiskey doesn't continue to age after it leaves the cask, so your 7-year-old 2010 single malt isn't 12 years old now. What you're buying is really a time capsule: a preservation of something created the day the cap was secured, the product of a particular place and time.
And as demand for nostalgia increases, some of these bottles can fetch a high price in legitimate and not-so legitimate exchanges. With that in mind, here's what you need to know before you spend big bucks—or grab it for a song at an estate sale.
Related: I Only Used to Drink Whiskey Neat—Until I Learned the Truth About Ice
How to Buy Vintage Whiskey
![<p>Once you establish the age of a bottle of whiskey, Hyman points first to owner changes as a marker of quality. Big companies can come in, cut corners, and drastically change the quality, so if you're hunting for a particular brand, know when these things took place. </p><p>As a rule, not all whiskey from past decades is better. "Their choices in the distillation technique, the materials, the stills being used... the first thing that can differentiate between whiskeys both old and current is the emphasis on the craft." </p><p>The second: equipment. "The longer you've used a still and the longer you've used distillation equipment," says Hyman, "the more batches are [imprinted] on the equipment." </p><p>But there's also change over in equipment to consider. "If you have a still that's been operating since the end of prohibition, say 1935, which is a pretty common starting place for most prohibition stills — most of that distillation equipment is out of play now."</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/EGCXwGBlLovWlrhJXZcWpg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MQ--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/men_s_journal_718/dceffe3fb223f8429413d378408edfb3)
Once you establish the age of a bottle of whiskey, Hyman points first to owner changes as a marker of quality. Big companies can come in, cut corners, and drastically change the quality, so if you're hunting for a particular brand, know when these things took place.
As a rule, not all whiskey from past decades is better. "Their choices in the distillation technique, the materials, the stills being used... the first thing that can differentiate between whiskeys both old and current is the emphasis on the craft."
The second: equipment. "The longer you've used a still and the longer you've used distillation equipment," says Hyman, "the more batches are [imprinted] on the equipment."
But there's also change over in equipment to consider. "If you have a still that's been operating since the end of prohibition, say 1935, which is a pretty common starting place for most prohibition stills — most of that distillation equipment is out of play now."
When a distillery closes, or moves, it alters the terroir, the identity of the whiskey.
"It may seem silly that you can have whiskey made, for instance, at Heaven Hill tasting one way and whiskey at Willett tasting different, because they're a mile away," says Hyman. "But one is at the top of the hill, and one is near the bottom of the hill, and they get completely different amounts of humidity, and different air flow, and summer in and summer out, their rick houses are experiencing different things," he explains.
"So even if you were using the same mash bill, you're going to get different profiles. You can't re-create those conditions either, so when a brand is purchased and moved, you're just not going to be able to create the same whiskey."
Hyman points to Jim Beam brands like Old Taylor, Old Grand-Dad, Old Crow: "All of those brands moved to Jim Beam in the early 1990s, and none of those were able to keep the same profile or the same quality on the move over for a variety of reasons."
![<p>The proof point of the bottle can affect how well it survives the test of time, but the proof point of the spirit when it goes into a barrel is even more important — and a place where companies historically have cut corners. </p><p>"When you start to take a look at brands that have been owned by larger companies," Hyman says, "one of the ways historically that larger companies have looked to try to reap some more financial benefits out of the whiskey business has been to [lower] the entry proof of the whiskeys to the barrel."</p><p>Less whiskey and more water means you'll have more liquid at the end of the aging process, "because water doesn't evaporate as much. So their thought process is let's get more whiskey out the other side." </p><p>Hyman says it's not a simple science, though, so every distillery will have different ideal proofs that you have to figure out from history. "There's an art form to what proof you put in and how well it's going to age. And every mash bill and every yeast strain is a little bit different."</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Evr1NtJzwHK5l78D4ZIyCw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MQ--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/men_s_journal_718/3e993ea985249cbf417472930993f0e1)
The proof point of the bottle can affect how well it survives the test of time, but the proof point of the spirit when it goes into a barrel is even more important — and a place where companies historically have cut corners.
"When you start to take a look at brands that have been owned by larger companies," Hyman says, "one of the ways historically that larger companies have looked to try to reap some more financial benefits out of the whiskey business has been to [lower] the entry proof of the whiskeys to the barrel."
Less whiskey and more water means you'll have more liquid at the end of the aging process, "because water doesn't evaporate as much. So their thought process is let's get more whiskey out the other side."
Hyman says it's not a simple science, though, so every distillery will have different ideal proofs that you have to figure out from history. "There's an art form to what proof you put in and how well it's going to age. And every mash bill and every yeast strain is a little bit different."
As important as the distillery's location and ownership might be for changes to the whiskey's profile, the most important thing to know is how much whiskey was being sold during the period when your prospective bottle was filled.
"We went through a few periods of what we call glut, when too much whiskey was being made and it wasn't being bottled," Hyman say. "So what was happening was behind your 4-year label, your 7-year label, you were getting whiskey that was eight or 10 or 12 years old."
Hyman says that's a good thing for you, if you can find bottles from those times. "Not all whiskey is better when it's older, but it does get better up to an age of 8–12 years or so: that was the sweet spot among older distillers for how old whiskey should get."
Government has influenced a lot of things in whiskey's history. Prohibition is the biggest single event: obviously pre-Prohibition bottles will be more valuable and more rare. Same goes for bottles produced during Prohibition, which are usually marked as "medicinal."
Other things come into play as well. "In the mid-1980s you had some EPA restrictions on ethanol emissions that made some small changes to the distillation process," Hyman says. "You'll often see a big difference if you compare brands of today with pre-'80s."
So once you know what you're looking for, Hyman says the first place to look "is in your parents' and grandparents' basements. If you come up lame in their basements, search your friends' parents' basements. It's pretty funny, but that's where you're going to find this stuff."
Hyman says to keep going from there, using the community to find rare treasures. "If you strike out with your folks and your friends' folks, start hitting estate sales and garage sales — if you're in a state that allows folks to sell alcohol that way.
In states like Virginia, you'll read an ad that says, 'Have lots of vintage liquor. X number of bottles with X dollars of purchase.' So you end up buying other stuff to get the whiskey." Hyman says it's a good time to find some vintage vinyl and walk away with vintage booze.
You may have a desire to go door to door at every liquor store across the country, but it probably won't pay off. "When you start talking about liquor stores... I won't say that hunting is dead," Hyman adds, "but I will say that there are so many folks who are so enthusiastic, that it's gonna be really hard to find good quality older juice still in liquor stores." If you're starting now, you missed the boat on this one. "Even three years ago, you could find 30–40 year old stuff on shelves." Not now.
Once you find bottles, you should be assessing the quality. The problem with bottles of whiskey is that not every seal is perfect. And if a bottle has been opened or left in the wrong conditions, the whiskey can oxidize. "Whiskey that has turned in the bottle does so due to extreme temperature changes and/or exposure to light," Hyman says. "What happens is it becomes cloudy, so you can't see through it."
But cloudiness isn't always a sign of oxidized whiskey, particularly if the bottle's been in a cold cellar. "In older whiskey, you need to make sure that when you're assessing the whiskey it's not extremely cold." Chill filtering removes tiny particles that, when whiskey is cold, bind to water molecules and form crystals. "Chill filtering wasn't started until much later, and whiskey that is non-chill filtered will get cloudy in cold temperatures."
![<p>There are books to buy, time lines to memorize, and labels to learn if you want to do this at the most elite level. But the best starting point is a few pours of some of the older stuff, to understand what's so special about old whiskey.</p><p>Dozens of vintage whiskeys make the rotation throughout the year in the care of Hyman in D.C. </p><p>"Bourbon was the first bar of its kind in the country. We started in 2003. In terms of older whiskey, we always try to keep some different vintages on hand. I always try to have something from Prohibition available. There's always some older Stitzel-Weller there, we have some stuff from the 1970s. We have older expressions of [newer] limited edition brands. So you can do side-by-side tests, so you can decide what you like—older or newer." </p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/r74sbym7NR6u_Mg9qyC_Qw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MQ--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/men_s_journal_718/6c6fb459ea8aa2f4750a5a605561a346)
There are books to buy, time lines to memorize, and labels to learn if you want to do this at the most elite level. But the best starting point is a few pours of some of the older stuff, to understand what's so special about old whiskey.
Dozens of vintage whiskeys make the rotation throughout the year in the care of Hyman in D.C.
"Bourbon was the first bar of its kind in the country. We started in 2003. In terms of older whiskey, we always try to keep some different vintages on hand. I always try to have something from Prohibition available. There's always some older Stitzel-Weller there, we have some stuff from the 1970s. We have older expressions of [newer] limited edition brands. So you can do side-by-side tests, so you can decide what you like—older or newer."
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