Does bourbon ever go bad if the bottle has never been opened?

Two experts weigh in.

Tom Gale can still remember when he was bestowed a bottle of Old Fitzgerald that had been sitting in a closet since the 1960s. 

"It was still in the original box with the original tax stamp on it," Gale, who was recently named a Tennessee Squire by Jack Daniels, tells Southern Living of the bottle he acquired from a close friend. "It went into the barrel in 1963 and came out of the barrel in 1969."

Unwilling to sell the bottle into a museum and unable to serve it to guests at his Virginia bar and restaurant, Gale opted to return the unopened bottle of bourbon to its original owners in Kentucky: the Van Winkle family. 

In March 2021, Gale and his wife, alongside Julian Van Winkle and his family, uncorked the bottle together and had a taste.

"When he took the cork off that bottle…the aroma was so good," Gale says of the experience.

Despite the bottle being about half a century old, the unopened bourbon tasted great.

"If properly sealed, properly stored, and properly kept, unopened bourbon will not go bad," Gale says.

Meet Our Expert

• Tom Gale is the director of operations and executive bourbon steward at Virtue Feed and Grain.
• Clay Smith is the operations manager for Moonshine University.

Will An Unopened Bottle Of Bourbon Go Bad?

So, will unopened bourbon always keep? Yes and no. Once a bourbon is in the bottle, you can assume that you have halted any further "aging" of the spirit; however, very small changes can—and will—still occur.

Clay Smith, the operations manager for Moonshine University, says that these changes can be exacerbated by external factors such as temperature swings, humidity, light exposure, introduction of oxygen, and time.

“If the bottle is exposed to any of these conditions in extreme, the spirit has the potential to change,” he says. “However, it doesn't mean that it will go bad per se. Just change. Was the bottle found in a barn, or a basement next to a window? And do you think it has been there for decades? Then yes, you can assume this bottle has been exposed to these external forces and may change from the original intent of the producer.”

How Long Will An Opened Bottle Of Bourbon Last?

An opened bottle of bourbon automatically changes the conditions of storage, because more oxygen is interacting with the spirit.

“The moment we pop the cork, we introduce this catalyst of change to the spirit,” Smith says. “The clock is ticking, so to speak. At first, the clock ticks slowly, but then as the bottle gets closer and closer to empty, the changes come quicker as there is now more oxygen to interact with the spirit in greater abundance.”

Smith’s advice? When the bottle is around one-fourth full, just drink it. 

“You're likely introducing change quicker than you may think. Besides, bourbon is meant to be enjoyed, not rationed for infinity,” he says.

Gale agrees, adding “With my whiskeys, I try to keep only one good bottle open at a time.”

Related: Bourbon Vs. Whiskey—Are They Actually Different?

Does Bourbon Ever Expire?

In terms of true expiration—like milk, for example—no, bourbon does not expire.

“If you think it's 'gone bad,' it's probably because of one of those storage conditions mentioned earlier (have impacted the taste),” Smith explains. 

He says the best way to tell is to try your bottle against a bottle of the same batch from a different retailer. 

“It is possible that the batch may have been handled differently in transit or storage,” he says.

Read the original article on Southern Living