Friday, December 26, 2008

Liquor news

Jean T. Barrett, the LA Times’s answer to Eric Felten, recently wrote about artisanal gins, vodkas & whiskeys. Aside from the fact that I know I won’t be able to find anything she mentions in the liquor-restricted state of Washington, she makes a recommendation about one’s bar stocks that just stops me in my tracks.

Get rid of anything you haven’t used in a year.

Jeez—I’d have to empty out my stash except for the liqueurs I use in baking, the tequila & the single malt.

Apparently, booze can go bad. Barrett states,“Leading liquor writer F. Paul Pacult, author of ‘Kindred Spirits 2,’ a collection of spirits reviews and tasting notes, estimates the shelf life of opened bottles of spirits at just three to four months. I'm more liberal (or less discerning) and think up to a year is fine.”

Well, who knew?

Dunno what to tell you on this, folks. This is the first I’ve ever heard of this. I do know I’m not tossing out bottles of rum, vodka, cognac, Cointreau, bourbon, Calvados, etc. Not even the gin. Perhaps a huge cocktail party is in order.

You should exercise your own good judgment.

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