does liquor go bad? (whiskey, taste, brandy, rum)

[clarksvillemom]

I have many bottles (yay!) of various liquor, some un-opened, some open. Then I have some brandy in a decanter and some whisky in a decanter. The opened bottles and decanters have been arond for quite a while already. ALthough I haven't sampled all of them recently, the ones I did don't taste any different. Can I keep these indefinitely? Are there guidelines on this? I know about wine - so this is just about "hard" liquor, like vodka, gin, rum, brandy, etc.

[biggunsmallbrains]

I'd say keep it out of the sun and in a moderate temperature range but hard liquor will last indefinitely, especially unopened. After all they put spirits in barrels for decades sometimes.

Even if it's opened it will last but the flavor will change a bit due to oxidation. I've noticed that especially with some heavilly peated scotches (ie Laphroaig, etc.). As the level in the bottle goes down the flavor will change a little.

[OpenD]

We kicked this around a few months ago...

https://www.city-data.com/forum/alcoh...l#post26924487

But the advice above is basic... store liquor in a cool, dark place and it will keep indefinitely. But keep the bottles upright, rather than laying them down as you would with wine.