storing whisky in Silver flask

[easterfields]

Advice needed please, will silver react with whisky ? I want to store some in a silver flask for a few years, is it likely to change flavour, or tarnish the silver ?
also what is latest about storing in Lead Crystal decanter, is there a possible health risk ?
any advice appreciated.
cheers
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No ice thanks

[Calder]

Just to be sure what you mean by silver flask, do you mean a solid silver flask or a stainless steel flask such as a hip flask.

[easterfields]

solid silver ( not showing off ! )
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No ice thanks

[Archer]

My wife would sometimes use a drop of whisky to clean gold and silver jewellery

For that reason i doubt that it would stain the silver flask. I couldnt comment on whether the silver would effect the taste of the whisky.

[Quaich1]

Sterling silver flasks were apparently very popular in the late 19th Century and the first 50 years of the 20th Century with makers like:

James Dixon & Sons of Sheffield in 1941.

G. & J. W. Hawksley of Sheffield in 1918.

William Summers of London in 1865.

John Newton Mappin of London in 1893.

They are quite valuable really. I expect that keeping whisky in them for "brief periods" would be no problem at all. Hip flasks were common ways of transporting drams in those days rather than bringing along whole bottles on excursions, etc. I remember a friend of mine who carried such a hip flask on cold winter nights. I don't know what the whisky would be like after a few years. I don't think mine (if I had one) would last that long.

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"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[Big Mac]

Personally I would only recommend using leaded crystal to decant into if you intend to pour it but never to store long term it isnt worth the risk. The lead can leach into the spirit and ingesting it is not safe. The leaching of the lead into the spirit according to articles which i have read is much faster than you think. You would expect to find around 50 micrograms of lead in 1 litre of standard drinking water. Leave spirits or wine in a lead decanter for a couple of days and you will find around 89 micrograms, after 4 months you can find anything from 2000 - 5000 micrograms.

The best way to store your whisky for an extended period is in a glass bottle with as little space in the bottle for air as possible as the air can dull the flavour of the whisky.

[opelfruit]

Silver is a low reactivity metal so shirt periods will be okay. I would not store whisky in a silver container for extended periods (months) as it will taint the flavour. As already mentioned; glass.

Incidentally, copper, nickel and chromium are also low reactivity metals and you wouldn't want to store whisky in them would you
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"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."