What test's your will power?

All of my Karuizawas and my Suntory Pure Malt 1981... They call to me daily!!!

My Abunadh is still waiting to be opened. A bottle I am keeping for a special occasion is definitely my Dalmore from 1986, the year of my birth.

I have a Seagram's V.O. that was bottled in 1980 that I'd love to crack open to see the change in quality etc.. To be honest I'm not really sure what's holding me back from opening it, but something tells me I should give it another couple years on the shelf.

Not purchasing is a bigger test for me than opening (generally I just open them anyway!). I can always think of a few excuses why spending a few extra bucks on that nice bottle is worth it... so hard to resist!

@valuewhisky That's a really good point, I know exactly what you mean.

Only ones I don't own tempt me :-)

I've generally got a schedule for opening my special bottles. And there are a few I've drunk a full bottle of already and am saving for a rainy day well in the future when people are waxing nostalgic about how good whisky was in the early teens ;-)

I'm currently sitting on two bottles of A.H. Hirsch which has doubled in value since I purchased them two years ago. My intent was to keep one and drink one but with how expensive they've gotten, I'm still waiting for the right time to crack the seal on the first bottle.

I have a bottle left of macallan 12 from a splurge in college when it was $32.99 a bottle in around 2007 or 2007. It was such a great memory bc the few bottles of macallan 12 I bought for that great price really brought me to smsw. I really was wowed by the macallan and still find sherried whiskeys have a special place in my heart bc of those macallan 12s. Now although its not an elite bottle I'm saving it for a day where I just feel is the right day to crack it open.

Numerous bottles that I would like to open but resist. As I've said in other posts, my open bottles need to be reduced to the point that I don't have so many sitting around for long periods of time. I recently picked up some Japanese and Indian whiskies that I would love to open but for the time being, I'll let them be.

Redbreast 12 Cask Strength. However, it will get opened on St. Patty's Day.

Longrow CV...though that will be happily opened at a Connosr get-together next week. Also, my Parker's Heritage Collection (5th edition) Cognac barrell-finished 10 yo bourbon has been taunting me for over 10 months, but I am trying (desperately) to hold off until my 4th edition (10 yo wheated bourbon) bottle is near finished. We shall see...

I never leave a bottle unopened for more than 24hrs :)

@tjb Great discussion I currently have a bottle of Octomore, and Octomore Orpheus, Midleton Very Rare and a Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy, Ardbeg Galileo, Springbank 18yr, Kilchoman Winter 2010 Release. I know I will get to these someday but when. :)

@cpstecroix - "...waxing nostalgic about how good whisky was in the early teens" -- Irony and truth in equal measure! I don't know whether to be excited about or fearful of whisky's future. It's maybe the only product in the world for which increasing popularity is resulting in questionable decisions by distillers. Some of their tricks and shortcuts have led to a good end result. But how long can they continue to rely on tricks and shortcuts?

Back on topic...@PeatyZealot -- that's my willpower test as well. I get 'em, I open 'em. I've decanted a few favorites into smaller bottles, but I fear my collection will soon become "The Oxidation Museum." I'm on a tight whisky budget for 2013, so I've resolved to be more disciplined in this area.

@michaelschout - I have CR Ltd Ed from that era, perhaps we could find a few more and do a tasting flight of vintage Seagram's.

@WhiskyBee Haha thats my point! Once opened it will deteriorate a little and that wouldn't be good, would it? I do that too, I saved some 20cl bottles and I keep m in better shape like that. Now 10cl left of the Caol Ila 18 after a month or two so I guess I'll have to drink it sooner than later. Maybe you can start emptying the opened bottles in stead of buying new ones. And if possible, group up with some friends for a 'finish the bottle' tasting haha, those are my favorite! I think whiskey is to drink and in my place, a bottle almost never lasts more than a month. I wanted to make the Ardbeg last a little longer, but then my friend said: lets kill it, and I said : ok :p

What tests my will power? If the bottle is still unopened by the time I reach my home coming back from the bottle shop, I passed the test.

I have also placed a child lock on the cupboard where I keep my bottles. My wife thinks it's to stop our 2yo son from getting to the bottles, but it's actually to prevent myself from having more than 10 drams or so. (hell, it's difficult enough to open sober)

@NilsG More than 10 drams a day?! Sometimes after three my buds are already completely overloaded and after 5 I just want the most expensive bottle on the table and put it to my mouth haha. But then again, thats exactly the point you're making right...

Wow, there are some seriously nice bottles out there. @PMessinger what is your address, are the bottles locked up and when do you go on vacation? That is some will power.

I am saving a 1994 Lagavulin Distillers Edition which I only recently purchased. I don't know what I'm waiting for but kind of have the idea of it being a buffer. Knowing I have something wonderful to try might stop me looking for new bottles quite as obsessively.

So I would say for me at the moment, what tests my will power the most is keeping to my budget.

What started me thinking was the idea of me buying a Glenfarclas 40 year old and saving it for a future celebration. I wondered if I had the will power to not break the seal them moment it was in my hand.

My problem isn't opening bottles once I have them, at least for my special bottles, because I almost always have a place and time in mind for them. Always with my brothers. However that being said sometimes that little voice in my head will sometimes go "aww come on, it won't change THAT much from now until then" (then being anywhere from a year to 3 years in the future). But he's pretty easy to squash.

My demon is not buying whiskies I see. That's where the willpower comes in. I'm going to a Kavalan whisky tasting next Wednesday and I KNOW I'll be purchasing whiskies there, but in the meantime it's one of those "Yes that Ardbeg Corryvreckin looks awesome and you love it, but no! Put the Convict Unchained back, you can't spend another $200 on a bottle, you're saving for Scotland, etc"

I find that I'm a sucker for cask strength limited releases and with a couple of the guys in my whisky feed posting all the time about the new cask strengths coming out of Heartwood or the Odd Whisky Coy, it's like a drug addict on the mend walking in circles around the local street dealer.

@PeatyZealot yeah you can't do 10 drams in a row. I have to go easy, so I reset my palate in between the whiskies with a pint of beer or two.

@SquidgyAsh - im having the same issues with do I/dont I with the convict unchained! $200 is steep but an 11 year old australian port cask aged whisky @71.9% sounds too good to pass up! Im also quite excited for the coming heartwood releases: velvet hammer and hopefully lark evolution.

@Chookster Agreed. All the Heartwoods are sounding so awesome! But I need to save money for Scotland!!!

What @Bourbondork said in his first two sentences also applies to me. I have too many open bottles already to open more. Under these circumstances it is hard not to open some new bottles of old favourites which have been finished off and are becoming greatly missed.

@tjb Thanks it's partly will power and partly fear of getting more once opened, LOL. Some of my collection is hard to find were I'm at. :)

@Victor those that are greatly missed but also, new expressions that you want to try.

@Bourbondork, is it hard not to open bottles of "...also, new expressions you want to try?" Of course it is hard! The curiosity to experience is infiniite...it is just a matter of whether a person is willing to settle for a sample, or would insist on the much fuller experience of relating to a full bottle of the whisk(e)y.

I have a Glen Flagler 1973 that is unopened. I bought it not to drink, but because of how rare it is. Its fun having something that very few people have

@PeterG7 Wow, that is some bottle and some willpower.

@tjb..actually, it hasn't tested my will yet. It is quite the conversation piece. Its surprising how many of my friends want their picture taken beside it. One has it for his screen saver. Sits in the cabinet with the others.