bottom of the bottle

[cheekobonavista]

Anyone find their whiskey tastes different as they work their way through the bottle? I don't leave my whiskey open, and I store it in a dark cupboard. Still, I find the taste of some of my spirits change over the weeks in accordance the level of liquid left in the bottle.

I recently finished my first bottle of Old Pulteney 12. When I opened it and had my first taste, I was underwhelmed. It wasn't unpleasant, but it didn't do much for me either. A week or two later, once I was half way through the bottle, I started to enjoy it much more. The last 20% of the bottle was liquid gold, full of salt and brine. I was sad to see it go.

I'm now having a similar experience with a bottle of Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask. When I first opened the bottle, I found it almost a little offensive. Now that I'm half way through, I'm enjoying it immensely. Mind you it did take me a little while to discover the magic of water with this dram.

On the flip side, I've found Caol Ila 12 becomes less flavorful as I approach the bottom of the bottle.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is the taste of my whiskey actually changing?

[ralfy legend]

When left too long then yes but mainly no because if you find a good one then I decant into either a 20cl bottle or a 10 cl bottle so it's fine that way,

[Alexppp]

The whisky does change once opened, but partly it can be your subjective senses too. But there's no doubt that some whiskies need a couple of weeks of breathing in the bottle to open out fully. Conversely, I've sometimes been impressed by a whisky on first taste (the Aberfeldy 12 comes to mind), but by the time I got to the middle of the bottle I thought it was nothing special. And of course as ralfy said when it gets towards the end it's a good idea to decant into a smaller bottle.

[hotshothamish]

I recommend decanting too, I just re-opened a 20cl bottle of Springbank 15 that i had squirrelled away for 3 years and it's tasting great. Funnily enough I had a similar experience with a bottle of Carribean cask except I finished the bottle and continued to be underwhelmed.