Old Bottle of White Horse

[DaveH]

Some years ago I was given a bottle of White Horse, even then it was old as the bottle size is stated as 26 2/3 Fl. Ozs.

It has a number printed on the lable that looks like some kind of bin number:

GS
No. 1719510

I wonder if based on the above information anyone could advise as to the likely quality of the contents and the possible sale value ... the bottle is unopened.

Thank you in advance
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Dave H

[Alastair]

Hi Dave

In the UK up until 1980 standard size bottles were 26 2/3 fl ozs, they then changed to 750ml in 1980. About 1991/1992 the EEC (or EU as they call it now) changed the standard size from 750ml to 700ml.So the bottle you have must be from 1980 or before.

Certain bottles can be aged from the markings on the bottles but a lot of the time the markings only mean something to the distillery that produced the bottle. They where put on the bottles for by the bottler for quality control reasons.

It can sometimes be worthwhile contacting the distillery the bottle is from, remember to give them the full details of the bottle you have, including any markings on the glass and everything it says on the label. You may be surprised how helpful some of them can be they may even be able to tell you to the exact day how old the bottle is.

It may worth while looking in The Whisky Exchange to see if they have a bottle similar to the one you have if you where trying to put a price on the bottle.

As far as the bottle being drinkable, if the seal has remained good all these years then it should be ok to drink.

Alastair

[DaveH]

Thanks for that Alastair

I did notice some markings on the base of the bottle ... are the "White Horse" distillers still in business do you know, I cannot recall seeing White Horse on sale for some while.

DaveH
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Dave H

[William]

Hi Dave and welcome to the forum.

White Horse is still in business today but not as big as they once were.

At one time White Horse was selling around 2 million cases of whisky annually and was one of the top 10 selling whiskies in the world. Today White Horse has slipped down the world sales league table. It is still sold in over 100 countries today but its main markets today is Japan, Brazil, Greece, Africa and parts of the USA. As you can see the UK is no longer a main market for White Horse.

William

[Charlie]

You dont realise something is gone until someone mentions it.

I remember you would always see White Horse in most bars in the the UK but nowadays you never see it.

Charlie