Untouchables in your cabinet

There are ones that will be hard to open, but they will all be opened.

Better I enjoy them than the folks at my funeral; I don't want that to be a time for too much revelry and celebration. ;-)

@cpstecroix - I have opened some "untouchables" and expect to open many more. I'm hanging on to a few just in case OBE is real. (old bottle effect/out of body experience) lol ...perhaps that is the angel's share.

@PeterG7 Another great discussion I only have four untouchables at the moment. I should clarify that I'm an enthusiast who believes in enjoying scotch and not collecting it so technically mine are only untouchables until I can get more of these expressions.... then I'll open them. Middleton Very Rare, Middleton Barry Crockett Legacy, Glenfiddich Cask of Dreams, Kilchoman Winter Release 2010. Some of these are not even allowed in my state yet, so I will have to wait a while to get more. Thanks for such an interesting topic. :)

My interest in single malts was started when I met someone who had hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of spirits. He gifted me some cognacs, armagnacs, and whiskies (and 2 bottles I'd calvados - one I gave away), and shuddered at the thought I might share them at a Whisky tasting. He wanted them to be in my "special" cabinet. He even offered to take me to the LCBO to find some suitable "good stuff" for my friends so I wouldn't open these special bottles. In his mind I truly feel he intended to make me a collection that I would never be able to drink on my own in 2 lifetimes.

Then he died, tragically. He didn't have a will. I don't know what happened to his collection. But I have a few bottles that he gave me. Some are miniatures, some are rarer than hen's teeth.

I opened a Macallan 25 because my brother and my uncle liked Macallan (at the time it would have tasted the same as a Glenfiddich to me). And he had given me 2 of them plus a special edition 25. But all the others are singles, and for some of them, which I have explored online and know to be quite valued (quality-wise), I don't know when I'll consider my palate mature enough to appreciate them.

If I do open one it will be with special people, for a special occasion, and there will have to be a toast to this special man who, for reasons I will never know, encouraged me to explore something completely different, and to whom, given the innumerable hours I've spent enjoying reading about and watching videos about Whisky, and occasionally drinking it, I am thankful.

I think I'll go drink a dram to his memory right now....

@PeterG7 I have, in my bar, what I like to call the 'Hands Off Shelf' - it's the top shelf and has the following drams on it : Laphroaig 27 years 1981 Vintage, Ardbeg 1978, the four Ardbegs that make up the Path to Peaty maturity series with the Renaissance hand signed by Micky Heads, a Glenlivet 25 (for sentimental value), a 20cl sample of a 13 year old (unreleased) Macallan - signed by Bob Dalgarno. a 20cl sample of the Amrut Greedy Angels which I received last year from Ashok Chokalingam as a gift - given to me then as a mystery malt! And finally a First Cask bottling of a 1975 Macallan (distilled on the exact same day I was born - May 8, 1975 -- a gift from my wife for my last birthday).

@tabarakRazvi... Nice! Very jealous ; )

There are a few. And they will be touched, but all in good time. Ideally, should I meet someone who shares my enthusiasm, shared with friends. I have shared a couple of these bottles with friends who had no real appreciation, just because it seemed fun. But really, I could have opened anything.

I have decided that I will open at least 1 of these untouchable bottles a year, on my birthday if for nothing else. Currently waiting in the wings are:

Balvenie Tun 1401, 1967 Glenlivet / Longmorn, a few various Pappys, 2008 Talisker 30YO, my last Stagg. That's only like 10% of my cabinet. The rest are there to be drunk when the urge hits.

Just picked a 19 Year Old single bourbon cask Ardbeg for £80 which is a bit of a rarity and a serious bargain. May have to stick it on ebay and see if any ardbeg fanatics wanna pay silly money for it, or may save for a special occasion, still undecided.......

I've been a video game collector for a decade now, and I own some video game "untouchables". But I've opened and played all of them. To me, collecting is always about enjoying the things you own for the purpose for which they were made. For video games, that's to play them, and for whisky it's to drink it. So yeah, in my case, I will always open any whisky I buy.

As a small appendix to this post, though, I probably will never buy an "untouchable" whisky anyway, because I like to keep my costs fairly reasonable. There are certain video games I don't buy either, even though I want them, because the cost is just too high.

I have a few bottles that I am saving for the right time.

Woodford Reserve Maplewood, a few Parker's Heritage Collection lovelies, a Pappy Lot B.

My plan is to wait 5 to 10 years until I open these so I know without a doubt I am one of the few people enjoying them. A simple plan for whiskies that aren't hugely spectacular, but a good recipie for a good time with friends.

@JJBriggs

I think you hit on the mandatory condition for opening one of these gems... you have to open them with friends. Preferably people who will appreciate the history as well as the taste of the contents of the bottle.

@JJBriggs - I totally agree!

Great whisky can be enjoyed by anyone; good whisky shared with friends becomes legend.

Well, from the comments, I'd have to say, the majority favour opening rather than saving. I agree with JJBriggs, if you are going to open one of the "untouchables" it must be with friends who would appreciate what you are bringing to the table. Let me share a story. When I was in the military I did a tour in Germany. One night, three of my friends and I went out for a dinner. We're in our 20's (flight crew) and far from polished culturally. We grapped the wine list, pointed at a bottle and said we'll have this. I remember the owner making a big deal of opening the bottle and pouring the wine into the glasses. Before he could blink, up to the lips and down it went. There was this look of horror on his face. We'll have another we proclaimed. He sadly looked at us and said it was the very last bottle in his cellar...it was a chateau lafite 1940's something....to him very special....to us not so much. Fast forward 30 years and I now realize how much that bottle meant to him. So, yes, if I open an "untouchable" it is going to be for people who appreciate what they are drinking.

@PMessinger You mentioned they are "untouchables" until you can get more. What if there aren't anymore? What if you have one from a lost distillery? You now have a piece of history. You have the "Mona Lisa " of single malt. So, now what do you do?

@PeterG7 Well if I can't get more then I would consider selling them for what I can get and use the money to fill up my Bruichladdich Octomore fund. :)

The Untouchables, or 'Legacy Bottles' as I call them are not in my cabinet. They are securely stored and protected from heat, light, and not so light touches. When they are out of sight the temptation to open one does not exist; eventually they'll all be opened, just not today.

PC8. It will be a collector's bottle very soon. I have never tasted it, alas. But it is in my safe right now. I will open it eventually, but the temptation is there to wait and wait and wait. I've had a few bottles in my safe double in value over the past two years. Hey, it happens. And I'm good at guessing. Now, will I have the resolve to keep from opening them? Probably not.

@paddockjudge

All my whiskies are in my cool basement and protected from light. No sense in jest preserving the special ones. I want the good ones that I drink every couple of weeks to taste good too.

@Nozinan - I'd rather not drink in the basement.

I wouldn't consider anything in my whisky cabinet 'untouchable' but there are some that I have set aside for a later time. Usually around holidays, birthdays or any other special occasion I'll crack open a bottle I've been holding on to. If I ever got my hands on a really rare bottle I might feel some sort of pride in my collection but it would mean nothing if I didn't share it with good friends and family.

Thanks to all for your responses. As I mentioned previously, the majority favour opening their "untouchables" with the caveat that it would be to share with their friends who appreciate fine whisky. So until my "beer drinking, bbq rib eating friends" take it to the next level, my "untouchables" will remain unopened. The good news for me is...I like beer and bbq ribs too.

@paddockjudge

It's a finished basement. Cool all year round. That's where my Whisky club meets. Nice chairs, we bring down some good complimentary foods.... What's not to like?

@Nozinan - sorry. Meant to thumbs up that. Darned phone.

@mrgargus No worries, I never check scores

This is a tricky question b/c i have never been a collector. Whisk(e)y is to drink and share with friends. In my opinion it is not meant to be looked upon. I can understand though the feeling of not wanting to drink bottle with special acquisition stories. I myself have actually several bottles of high quality rum from travels to the Caribbean that i find myself nursing. I would never consider not drinking it but i will admit some trepidation towards having to get rid of the bottle once it is finished. Life is short and spirits are meant to be consumed, so drink up in the company of great friends. That is what I do with those bottles that are "untouchables"

@Nolinske

Interesting. I've never used the price of the bottle as a determinant of whether it is "untouchable". It's always been the story. Years before I got interested in soirits, I used to bring bottles back from my travels. I had absynth from Spain, Rum from Cuba and Nicaragua (you can get Flor de Caña here but there it's bottled at a different strength) and stuff I cannot name from China. I displayed them on a shelf in my apartment. One day my new wife cleaned out some drawers and put some wine bottles and things on the same shelf. While she was out it all came crashing down.

I agree: drink it or give it to someone who will.

I don't buy to collect, I buy to drink, so there is very little in my cabinet that I would consider untouchable. I do have a bottle of Dalmore Castle Leod I purchased more for the cause than to drink, but I will eventually open it.

I have two bottles I picked up during a recent trip through Kentucky's Bourbon country, that will be hard to open. One is my hand dipped in red wax bottle of Maker's Mark, and the other a Elmer T. Lee collector's edition bottle of Buffalo Trace, purchased just a couple of weeks before his death. Both are distillery only editions, so while not rare, are not common either.

I say invest in what doesn't matter to you, like the stock market. I love whisky, so I will drink what I buy. Who cares if it double or triples. Am I going to actually sell it? I don't think so, so the only reasonable thing to do is drink it.

So there are no untouchables with me. To answer the question. But for now, The Stagg Jr. for a couple weeks anyway.

I don't have any untouchables in my cabinet, but I do purchase for both collecting and drinking. Currently I'm purchasing what I call "The Zombie Apocalypse Collection"

These are a series of whiskies, mostly from silent distilleries, that I've been picking up over the years and the way I figure it will happen is that when the dead rise from their graves and are pounding on my barricaded doors I'll crack open these rare whiskies so that when the undead finally burst in I'll be so pickled on excellent alcohol that I won't care as they devour me.

In this collection right now: The bottle of Talisker 35 year old that Mark Lochhead (head distiller at Talisker) signed for me, Brora 35 year old official release, Rosebank 21 year old official release, Karuizawa 13 year old bottled for the Auld Alliance in Singapore, Linlilthgow 1979 30 year old, Littlemill 22 year old, Port Ellen 30 year old from Douglas Laing Old and Rare.

I keep adding to this collection to ensure that I'll have a large enough supply for when the end finally occurs. By the way there'll be a whisky club meeting at my house when the apocalypse comes if anyone is interested :D