My father in law (Umberto) can no longer drink, and he was never much of a drinker anyway, so now that he's in respite care we've brought home some of his dusty bottles. They were never stored in the best of conditions, but not in direct sunlight either. I thought I'd share the journey. 

 

First up was this bottle of CabSauv/Shiraz. Immediate thoughts were that is would be both cooked and oxidised. Pulling the cork found that it was wet up to about a mm short of the top and it was smelling quite fruity and plummy. It was also quite red still (no brown notes), if a bit paler than the original would have been. Unfortunately, a combination of probably being cooked over a few summers and not being a superb wine in the first place - it was quite flavourless compared to the smell AND it was just that little bit vinegary. Such a shame! The bottle of 2013 Annie's Lane chardy we had on Wednesday was much better, but it didn't even look dusty, so I didn't think to take photos. That's it for the wines.

 

 

Next on the list were a few bottles of whisky - they're all blended and, I don't believe. This one had a disintegrating cork, so I decanted it and had a taste. From the label, it looks to be a 1970's bottling, and it certainly didn't taste like the horse-piss that I last remember when I tried White Heather. It's actually quite palatable, with the grain whisky definitely in the background and the rest of the flavour being quite nice. Will not be pouring this down the sink!

  

 

Lastly was something we're going to decide whether to open or sell, as they seem to go for quite a bit on the open market. I think the 1801 in the centre of the label indicates a bottling before 2000 and so does the 750ml (instead of the 700ml nowadays) - and that would match with Bert's whisky. You see, Bert never bought whisky, only ever being given bottles by people at his work - and he retired the same year I met Mrs CE (2005). No box, unfortunately, but in very good condition. We'll have to see what the temptation devil has to say!

 

 

Last for this installment, we threw out a couple of bottles of Baileys (not willing to risk opening them - assuming they weren't solid!) And we still have about 7 gallons of his 'port' from 1979, which is actually more of a vino cotto and quite delicious. Hopefully I can go through the rest of his blended whiskies next and then we'll get the the weird liqueurs...

Edited August 16, 2025Aug 16 by Cloth Ears

On 16/08/2025 at 8:13 AM, Cloth Ears said:

  

 

I was reading a book recently and found out one reason why this may have been so good. Basically, until Glenfiddich started selling their single malt outside of Scotland, there was almost none outside of that country. And almost all of it went into the blends that were being sold (I understand that White Horse had a substantial amount of Lagavulin in it's blend until the 80's). So now I'm going to have to look for any blends that have the contents of the bottle (if sold in Australia) in Imperial measures!!! I'll be checking Bert's stash first!!!

These are the other whiskies and a couple of brandies that I found in Bert's stash. The Napoleon means we won't have to worry for a couple of years when we make hot toddy's to fend off colds in the Winter. The large whisky bottles may be OK (yet to taste any), but I think we'll just fob them off to any non-whisky folks who come to visit.

The Stravecchio Branca is interesting. The labelling and the abv (42%) indicate it's an older style. But whether that's a 70's, or 90's or in-between is a bit of a mystery. I might have to learn how to translate the pink tax label to find a definite answer.

And also of interest is the Johnnie Walker. It's because it's bottled at 43%, and apparently that was stopped during the 80's. Yet the label is mint. If it's an 80's version then it'll definitely be a cut above the stuff being sold now.

 

I'll inform when I open anything. Next up will be the rum - although it's mostly white...

19 hours ago, Cloth Ears said:

These are the other whiskies and a couple of brandies that I found in Bert's stash. The Napoleon means we won't have to worry for a couple of years when we make hot toddy's to fend off colds in the Winter. The large whisky bottles may be OK (yet to taste any), but I think we'll just fob them off to any non-whisky folks who come to visit.

The Stravecchio Branca is interesting. The labelling and the abv (42%) indicate it's an older style. But whether that's a 70's, or 90's or in-between is a bit of a mystery. I might have to learn how to translate the pink tax label to find a definite answer.

And also of interest is the Johnnie Walker. It's because it's bottled at 43%, and apparently that was stopped during the 80's. Yet the label is mint. If it's an 80's version then it'll definitely be a cut above the stuff being sold now.

 

I'll inform when I open anything. Next up will be the rum - although it's mostly white...

Well, last night I tried the 3 on the right of this photo.

The King George IV was not opened, but had still lost the amount you can see. It was a very plain, quite sharp/hot, blended. Something that would definitely benefit from a cola, a dry ginger, or simply a trip to the sink.

The Heather Mist, by contrast, was much better. Compared to JW Red (from memory) it was smooth and had a little of that caramel/toffee you get from aged malts, if a little hot from the grain addition. Will definitely keep this for the less discerning visitor and for when I want a second (or third) whisky.

The Gleniffer (as distinct from Gleneffer) was (relatively) brilliant. Almost single-maltish in its aged characteristics. I poured one of these for Mrs CE when she got home from dinner (as she was driving, she didn't have a drink). She was of the same opinion. Lovely, rounded flavours with almost no hint of grain hotness. This could pass for a less salubrious single malt from the Highlands or Speyside and, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a 12YO or even a 15 - such was the taste spectrum. Only the nose gave it away a little...but just a little!

On 18/08/2025 at 12:47 PM, Cloth Ears said:

These are the other whiskies and a couple of brandies that I found in Bert's stash. The Napoleon means we won't have to worry for a couple of years when we make hot toddy's to fend off colds in the Winter. The large whisky bottles may be OK (yet to taste any), but I think we'll just fob them off to any non-whisky folks who come to visit.

The Stravecchio Branca is interesting. The labelling and the abv (42%) indicate it's an older style. But whether that's a 70's, or 90's or in-between is a bit of a mystery. I might have to learn how to translate the pink tax label to find a definite answer.

And also of interest is the Johnnie Walker. It's because it's bottled at 43%, and apparently that was stopped during the 80's. Yet the label is mint. If it's an 80's version then it'll definitely be a cut above the stuff being sold now.

 

I'll inform when I open anything. Next up will be the rum - although it's mostly white...

Tried the Grants, JW Black and the Chivas from the previous photos. The Grants was predictable and we ended up pouring both it and the King George down the sink (as it's glass recycling night tonight). The Chivas was a disappointment. not particularly nice on the nose and initial taste, it only sweetened up after that. But, it went really nicely in making hot chocolate, so we'll keep it for that. The Johnnie Walker black was nice and, compared more than favourably with a current Johnnie Walker Double Black (received as a Christmas present). So, we're keeping the Glennifer, the JW and the Heather Mist (in that order) with the Chivas for hot chocolate only.

Oh, the White Heather, I nearly forgot - it's nearly finished, but it fits in around the JW. Slightly more malty flavours but also a little more grain bite.

Great thread, I've enjoyed reading -- thanks for sharing. 🙂

I'm admiring your willingness to give these "aged" (OK old) bottles a go, and your honest tasting thoughts. Hope the drain pipes are holding up!

 

Edited August 20, 2025Aug 20 by zenikoy

1 hour ago, zenikoy said:

I'm admiring your willingness to give these "aged" (OK old) bottles a go, and your honest tasting thoughts. Hope the drain pipes are holding up!

 

LOL - I was actually inspired by a couple of things. Firstly this book, which I found on special when I was walking the esplanade in Lorne:

It's mainly about older bottlings  of bourbon, but also references whiskies, cognac/armagnac (I'd love a pre-1875 bottle to try stuff made before phylloxera wiped out Frances vineyards) and liqueurs. And also my memories of Laphroaig from the 90's, which was a much better dram (IMO) than it is now - except that those bottles (of the 10YO) go for more than $1,000.

But, older blendeds were also better, as single malts rarely made it outside of Scotland until Glenfiddich started in 1963. And, until the 1980's, blends were apparently really good, compared to what we have now. Even as late as the 90's, when I started paying attention, they were OK. And the explosion of single malts now means that the quality of a lot of them just simply cannot keep up.

As far as individual bottles go, unless you've lost a third via a loose seal, or they've been exposed to light and are very pale, they probably taste much the same as when they were bottled. There's a bottle on Wickmans site at the moment which I'm tossing up about getting. It doesn't look like much, but reading up about it says it might be fantastic!

It reminds me of my Dad's Port collection, not huge but spanning the 70s to 90s. Every few years we succumb to opening one. Sometimes they are great and others, well maybe should have been kept as shelf ornaments.

 

One that surprises us is a bottle of St. John Commandaria that I bought for him after a visit to Cyprus in 1989. At the time it was opened, tasted and pushed to the back of the bar. A few years back we tried it for a laugh, and were surprised how much better it tasted to us. Funny, as over the years we have become far fussier/snobbier in our tastes 🤣

 

On 18/08/2025 at 12:47 PM, Cloth Ears said:

These are the other whiskies and a couple of brandies that I found in Bert's stash. The Napoleon means we won't have to worry for a couple of years when we make hot toddy's to fend off colds in the Winter. The large whisky bottles may be OK (yet to taste any), but I think we'll just fob them off to any non-whisky folks who come to visit.

The Stravecchio Branca is interesting. The labelling and the abv (42%) indicate it's an older style. But whether that's a 70's, or 90's or in-between is a bit of a mystery. I might have to learn how to translate the pink tax label to find a definite answer.

And also of interest is the Johnnie Walker. It's because it's bottled at 43%, and apparently that was stopped during the 80's. Yet the label is mint. If it's an 80's version then it'll definitely be a cut above the stuff being sold now.

 

I'll inform when I open anything. Next up will be the rum - although it's mostly white...

Delayed the rum search, in place we tasted the two brandies instead.

The Chateau Napoleon was the same as you get today, not very tasty but not offensive either. We decided that this would be our hot chocolate booze of choice, as there were no obvious unpleasant tastes and it's relatively sweet (especially with that Koko chocolate). We now have two weeks to decide if the Chivas goes down the sink as well (our pipes are very clean!)

The Stravecchio Branca was a revelation. Smooth, rounded, sweet, caramel & toffee, plus a hint of smokiness. It must have been made from some different grapes to the usual Cognac or Armagnac offerings and aged for quite a reasonable time - the colour was quite dark compared to a lot of the booze I have open at the moment. Delicious! It will be offered to treasured guests with coffee after a meal - or anytime if we're not going out. I'm going to have to see if it's actually sold in Australia...

 

I think I'll wait until the weekend to have a look for more - and I'm keen to see what amari (is that the plural of amaro?) are in the boxes...

Had a look, without tasting, at some more 'gems' from Bert. Firstly this!!! For someone who supposedly limited themselves to a couple of beers and maybe a Centerbe with coffee, this little collection of Bacardi baffles the imagination. Mind you, they are probably fairly old...only two (3rd and 4th from left) have a bar code on the label - which probably indicates the others are 70's or early 80's. And the label of the barcoded bottles indicates they are probably 80's also (maybe early 90's). Because bottles 1, 3 and 5 are in quite good condition, I might see if it's worth putting them up for auction. The other two we will taste and decide later. I note than none were made in Puerto Rico, which is where they went after Castro took over Cuba. The big bottles are all Brazil and the 750ml are all Mexico.

 

Then we get to Bert's favourite tipple, the Centerbe. Supposedly 100 herbs ('cent' + 'erb'), the main flavour, before your taste-buds are mugged by the 70%, is oregano...but there are others in there. Of these, only the tall bottle and the two on the right are fully fledged Centerbe. The middle one is a mix of Centerbe and Sambuca - which is probably quite nice, as another bottle which we have open is centerbe + amaro, assuming you like either Sambuca or amaro. And the one next to the tall bottle is something weird - it says centerbe on the label, but it seems to have become infected with something, as it's a luminous aquamarine colour and tastes quite strange. I thought I'd given it the tip...and I probably will now.

 

Lastly, and we're a little unsure what to do with this, is a 70's Fernet-Branca (another amaro type, made with saffron and 26 other herbs). These bottles, with good labels, go for upwards of $300US - but this has a very destroyed label and might be better for us to open and taste what it's like after 4 or 5 decades of maturation.

 

When we decide to taste any of these, I will reconvene this thread. But I've got a whisky market on Sunday, so I don't want to destroy my taste-buds

Edited August 22, 2025Aug 22 by Cloth Ears

On 22/08/2025 at 10:09 AM, Cloth Ears said:

Had a look, without tasting, at some more 'gems' from Bert. Firstly this!!! For someone who supposedly limited themselves to a couple of beers and maybe a Centerbe with coffee, this little collection of Bacardi baffles the imagination. Mind you, they are probably fairly old...only two (3rd and 4th from left) have a bar code on the label - which probably indicates the others are 70's or early 80's. And the label of the barcoded bottles indicates they are probably 80's also (maybe early 90's). Because bottles 1, 3 and 5 are in quite good condition, I might see if it's worth putting them up for auction. The other two we will taste and decide later. I note than none were made in Puerto Rico, which is where they went after Castro took over Cuba. The big bottles are all Brazil and the 750ml are all Mexico.

OK - tried bottles 2 and 4 over the weekend. The Brazilian one (2) had a little colour when compared to the Mexican one, which was totally clear. The Brazilian had very little nose and was very subtle - distilled molasses in American White Oak doesn't impart much extra flavour to what is essentially alcohol. The Mexican one, on the other hand, did have some vegetal aroma and flavour. Both were quite nice, but not especially fully flavoured. You could probably drink quite a bit of these. Will see if the unopened bottles should be sold off...

Of note, I checked out the 'bat' emblem against what is on the Bacardi website. The form of the bat is the same as the 1996 version, but the colours (especially the 'bat' skeleton) are the same as the 1959 one. Unsure if the change in labels was gradual or of the ones on these bottles some how lost the colour of only one part. The barcodes on the back of bottles 3 & 4 could not have been there before 1979, but could easily have turned up much later. Hard to determine ages of things like this.

On 22/08/2025 at 9:39 AM, Cloth Ears said:

 

Lastly, and we're a little unsure what to do with this, is a 70's Fernet-Branca (another amaro type, made with saffron and 26 other herbs). These bottles, with good labels, go for upwards of $300US - but this has a very destroyed label and might be better for us to open and taste what it's like after 4 or 5 decades of maturation.

 

I thought we had one of those lurking at the back of the booze cupboard - sure enough:

 

 

 

It does taste awful - very medicinal but not in a good way - almost as bad as the Gillies Club Black Bowmore!

 

 

1 hour ago, Tony M said:

 

I thought we had one of those lurking at the back of the booze cupboard - sure enough:

 

 

 

It does taste awful - very medicinal but not in a good way - almost as bad as the Gillies Club Black Bowmore!

 

 

That taste is, unfortunately for you, the taste of a good amaro. It's essentially and after dinner digestive, and from a lot of European countries, it's the bitter, along with a little sweetness and a whole bunch of flavour that makes it what it is. You should taste some of the German versions (Underberg, Jagermeister) and you'll get hit even worse.

 

Unfortunately, yours is opened. Otherwise you could probably get a few hundred for yours!

Well, we've had it so long, I wouldn't be looking to sell it off in any case so it's not a big deal. 

 

It will be fun to get the reactions of other people to the taste and hopefully someone with a more sophisticated palate will be able to confirm if it is still sound and tastes something like it is supposed to. 🙂

 

 

I

These are the photos of most of the remaining bottles we got from Bert's cellar. Some may be making repeat appearances. Some seem to have lost colour (Strega is normally yellow) and others are a little down (I won't be touching that Club Port in the 4th photo). But most look pretty sweet.

 

I had a little taste of one of the Vat 69's, but it's not a 60's version. Maybe a little better than the current variety, but not by much.

 

I'll be interested to taste the Chartreuse, but only after I've had a taste of it from a modern bottle - maybe the local bar has one, or our local rum distillery. And the artichoke amaro could be interesting and maybe the Zubrowka (yes, there is a buffalo grass leaf in there).

 

Most of the whisky is going into the barrel I'm currently seasoning with a batch of '79 "port" (also made by Bert).

 

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2025Sep 19 by Cloth Ears

Finally got the 5 litre cask seasoned and this is what went into it. There was less than half a bottle each of the two on the right. We'll see what happens with a couple of months of maturation in oak before deciding where to go from there - as I'll have to keep it topped up with something. Hopefully we'll start to get some interesting oak flavours over the top of some fairly plain blended whiskies. I mean, none of them were undrinkable, but I was looking around for some coke or dry when we tasted them.

On 19/09/2025 at 8:55 AM, Cloth Ears said:

These are the photos of most of the remaining bottles we got from Bert's cellar. 

 

I'd have to google half that stuff before tasting. The "vintage" bottle of Claytons should be a treat 😉

 

Edited September 29, 2025Sep 29 by zenikoy

A ha! Looks like I missed a couple of good ones. I think we (Mrs CE and I) might have given Bert the Glenlivet - so bounced back to us with interest. The other two, like the The Gleniffer in the first group photo, are excellent examples of what a blend from the 80's or earlier could taste like. They are all (The Gleniffer, Scots Grey and Queen Anne) beautiful drams that compete on level terms with today's single malts in the lower end of the price range (<$150).

If you ever see one, even if the bottle is not the same, I suggest you grab it... Also, any White Heather in a square bottle (like in my first post) - I picked up a 1125ml bottle of this for well under $100 and am enjoying it way more than I should!

Sad news!

Bert passed away on 30th October and we put him in the ground on Tuesday (which is probably why the sky was crying that day). His barrel of whisky is aging nicely and I've bought a few bottles so that it can be distributed amongst the family members - maybe by Christmas. I might also try aging his 'port' (actually a cooked grape vino cotto that's been fortified) for a couple of months or so in the same barrel.

Planning on buying some new-make whisky at 63% to age once that's done and hopefully that'll make a nice threesome of memorial bottles of booze.

He came over in 1959 and survived 66 years in this country.

Vale Bert, may he rest in peace and soar to eternal heights.  😞

On 19/09/2025 at 4:55 PM, Cloth Ears said:

I'll be interested to taste the Chartreuse...

I've had a quick look, and it appears that similar labelled and capped bottles of Chartreuse often sell for between 1-2000 Euros - albeit with slightly better labels. I haven't actually managed to find a label anywhere on the internet specifically like this one and also the label etched on the bottle seems to be a bit different.

 

Maybe I won't be tasting it but adding to the estate instead.

 

P.S. The whisky barrel experiment has worked quite nicely, improving the flavour of the blended whiskies to a reasonable extent. It's now sitting in some larger bottles to allow it to settle before I start bottling it up for Christmas for Bert's kids. I now have some of his 1979 Vin Cotto (basically a good port) in the barrel for, hopefully, a similar improvement. And another set of bottles.

 

P.P.S. we still have another 6 gallons of Bert's Port in 1 gallon carboys...most is 1979, but some is 1980.

I got a response from Whisky Auction valuation people and they thought it might realise £300-£500 at auction, possibly more, even in its current condition. So I might hunt up Wickman's, Whisky Trade, Australian Whisky Auctions and Langtons to see what they can offer. As we have a bunch of other stuff that I doubt we'll ever touch, I should see if they'll try to auction them as well!