How many open bottles do you normally have?

[LeoDLion]

Les T. got me thinking. From reading threads, I assumed that most have several bottles opened and kept them opened for months, even years. I just read Meni who have more than 50 bottles opened.

The question is, is it better to have so many opened all at once, sample a dram from one and go on to the next. Or is it better to just have 2-3 opened bottles and drink from that until its empty. And open another set of 3?

Hmmm. What are your opinions?

[les taylor]

Great poll Leo. But you should also ask as this came up elsewhwere if you should finish a bottle say in 4 weeks from opening it. That is if you don't mind me adding this bit to the discussion.

[LeoDLion]

Great poll Leo. But you should also ask as this came up elsewhwere if you should finish a bottle say in 4 weeks from opening it. That is if you don't mind me adding this bit to the discussion.

Its perfectly fine, Les.

[Matt2]

I usually have 11-25, but I think that is too many and spend 1/2 hour staring at the shelf trying to decide, also almost empty bottles get left too long. I want it down to 4; Islay, Blend, Premium / old and a genral Scotch to give a few options.

And I also find if I'm constantly switching between a large selection I don't get the feel of them, but if you stay with a few over a couple of weeks they start to sink in and leave a lasting memory.

[jcasazza]

I usually have a few open, the more expensive bottles are the first dram of the night, then i usually switch to a more mainstrem, ie cheaper, dram. Last night it was Ardbeg 10 to start, 1 glass, then i wanted some Jameson 12yo 1780 to finish the night off.

[K-Mile]

Since I am just starting out on this time and money consuming venture, I have around 7 bottles open at the moment. Three or four are nearly empty, the same amount is half full, and two have just been opened. Considering I wanted to try a lot of different styles, this seems fair to me (in about a month).

Although I do enjoy the frequently visited drams more (even if I didn't like them that much at first) I would probably not open up another until I have around three or four left. That sounds like a fair amount to me, while still being able to try a new one every couple of weeks.

[mikeymad]

It is right around 20 most of the time, but it has been over 30 at times. I am trying to keep it around that 20, and turnover more bottles, rather that have a bunch open.

Cheers,

[lincoln imp]

I have a two tier approach. At present i have over 30 bottles opened. The top shelf contains my favourites that i drink on a regular basis and the bottom shelf the ones that i drink infrequently. I just like a selection. Variety is the spice of life apparently.

[Paul A Jellis]

Five or six at at time for me, that figure may go up over Christmas or other long holidays.

[Sherried Malt]

I currently have 28 bottles open. I like to try to new things, so I open more bottles than I can reasonably finish anytime soon.

Otoh, it's great having lots of choices and having that many open gives you lots of opportunities to do HTHs... It's always a pleasant surprise to find a forgotten, long lost friend on the back of the shelf too...

[Ganga]

Usually not less about 12 but up to about 30.

[Sphinx]

I have about 13 open bottles i think.
But i am seriously trying to get the number down to 5, so that i can intensefy the whole whisky experience.
And also because im tired og the level of whisky in each bottle gets to low, and is allowed being too low for too long, loosing taste etc.

Its just so friggin hard not opening those bottles
Its plain torture sometimes.

[Dubois]

Around 15 for now, but this is likely to change before this poll closes...

[MrIntrepid]

I currently have about 15 bottles open, I try and finish a bottle before I open a new one. However, over time I find the number of open bottles is increasing, I think this is because I don't get round to finishing bottles I am not that keen on (I have a sulphur strong Mortlach I can't imagine finishing this decade ), so they hang around for longer and I don't have the will power to resist for too long opening an interesting bottle if it is sitting on my shelf

[Leither]

I tend to keep it restricted to around 8 to 10.

This will normally be a blend (or grain) a non-Scotch (say Irish or Bourbon) with the remainder being malts.

For Scotch malts I tend to have at least one on the go from each region and ideally one cask strength and one standard strength from each (large) region.

I also tend to compare within distilleries where I can, so when I'm about finished with say a Talisker 10 I'll open an 18 to compare it to that head-to-head.

Furthermore I tend to keep a good variety open which consists of young v old, peaty v sherried, single cask v batch produced and distillery bottled v independently bottled.

Finally I like to keep something rare/unusual opened which for me just now is an old 23yo Pulteney single cask CS bottled in 1994.

[dmcreyno]

I've got seven open right now.

Restorative: Springbank, Cragganmore.
After Dinner: Talisker 18, Lagavulin 16, Macallan 18

General: Glenkinchie, Dalwhinnie 15

Most have 5 or more drams left.


[There is no such thing as a large whiskey.] M. Twain

[Reggaeblues]

Around 20. Nothing too exotic as my musician purse ain't too deep...but many presents! I well know Matt's problem of staring at the bottles wondering which one to have. Actually \i quite enjoy that dilemma...

Once in a while I absolutely know what I want. You know, on the M25 after a gig, driving like the wind because I'm jonesing for a Talisker...

[K-Mile]

It appears some, or most, have more bottles open than they think they should. Apparently we are not that good at controlling ourselves when that new Talisker DE or Laga 21 is staring at us from the top shelf

Not that strange, though

[TreacleSponge]

Good question Leo. I think to get a good feel for a bottling, and to ensure it's not going to change in flavour too much over time and to gain a more in-depth knowledge of a whisky, it's better to stick with a small number. However, I succumb to temptation too easily and would never manage to keep it down to 2-3 bottles!

Life is a hundred times better since selling my pub, except I no longer have 55 bottles of whisky behind my bar

I currently have 7 bottles open. It's not really enough for me... I like more variety. But I moved house and now my whisky friends don't live as close so I'm conscious that my bottles are lasting longer - too long for some (although 3 of my 7 are just 200ml bottles)

[Muskrat Portage]

I'm pretty upset with myself, I had to tick off the last one. I'd been trying to cut down to around 30 open bottles and was slowly finishing the ones that were nearly empty. Now, somehow I'm up over 60 open!

Maybe I should stay out of the Lair for a while.

Muskrat

[K-Mile]

I'm pretty upset with myself, I had to tick off the last one. I'd been trying to cut down to around 30 open bottles and was slowly finishing the ones that were nearly empty. Now, somehow I'm up over 60 open!

Maybe I should stay out of the Lair for a while.

Muskrat

I suggest speed it up to three Live Tastings a week to help you get through these. Even if you finish a bottle a week they last for over a year..

[zippy]

I normally have around a dozen open at any one time - but I try to keep within a range of 8-15 bottles. Any more than about 15 and I start to get indecisive about what to have next, also some of the less favoured bottles tend to hang around for a long time once I have a lot open.

Currently open:
Glengoyne 21yo
Glengoyne 12yo cask strength
Aberlour A'bunadh (batch 19)
Aberlour 10yo
Lagavulin 12yo cask strength
Laphroaig 10yo
Bunnahabhain 9yo (signatory, peated cask strength)
Ardbeg Uigeadail
Springbank 1997

I also have a Sazerac Rye 18yo awaiting opening...

Only 9 open - time to stock up soon!

[BourbonDrinker]

Counted last night.

Open:
30 bottles of Bourbon whiskey.
3 bottles of Scotch whisky
3 bottles of Tennessee whiskey
1 bottle of rye whiskey

Unopened:
1 bottle of Bourbon Whiskey
1 bottle of Scotch whisky
1 bottle of Canadian Whiskey

On order: 8 bottles of bourbon whiskey. 6 will be opened immediately.

[jimidrammer]

Usually around 20, including a few nice Bourbons, an Irish and maybe one blended Scotch. One to five are usually new to me that I'm working through, not to replace, but mostly favorites I keep around and stock up on.

[Muskrat Portage]

I'm pretty upset ...trying to cut down to around 30 open bottles ..., somehow I'm up over 60 open!

...Muskrat

I suggest speed it up to three Live Tastings a week to help you get through these. Even if you finish a bottle a week they last for over a year..

C'mon over some night and we'll see how many we can get through!
Muskrat

[K-Mile]

C'mon over some night and we'll see how many we can get through!
Muskrat

I'll remember that!

[Muskrat Portage]

C'mon over some night and we'll see how many we can get through!
Muskrat

I'll remember that!

...and if you are really lucky and the other guest bedrooms are full, you'd have to sleep on the queensized futon in the Whisky Lair.
Musky

[meni]

around 50 open bottles.
my favorite thing is to pick and choose 3-4 bottles , based on theme that I will sample at one night.
even if some will degrade in quality over time, it is still worth it for me
for the fun , I am attaching some pictures, I have many more, I like to see others pictures. hope you don't mind

[K-Mile]

Great pictures, nice selection Meni!

[meni]

thanks k-mile

[Ardbeggar]

As of yesterday, I had 4 open bottles:

Dalwhinnie distiller's ed. 1990
Ardbeg 10yr
Clynelish 14yr
Glen Grant Ind. Bottling from a cask bought by my local bottle shop

I finished the Dalwhinnie yesterday tho so I'm down to 3 open. Idealy, I'd just like to have one open at a time. We have some good scotch bars around town where I can have something different if I want.

I have 7 unopened bottles in storage. I put them in an old wooden ammunition box that's kept in the closet. Out of sight, out of mind =)

BTW, that Macallan 25 above looks beautiful. I have a Macallan 18 that I've yet to open and that was going to be exciting enough for me.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

I've been in the 25 -50 bracket for the last year averging around 40 open bottles which is way too much.

I had previously been around the 20 mark which was more manageable but I went through not being able to leave stuff closed ...

Ah well all the more for me .....

[woodhill]

I currently have about 39 bottles. I find it to difficult not after all its not going to go bad if its open so why not?

Meni. I notice from you picture you have the Kirkland 19yo Macallan whats this like?
I've been toying with the idea of buying one?

Thanks

[woodhill]

whoops just found this

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6108&hilit=kirkland

[SoMK]

I do not have a huge collection but I have around 12-14 open bottles. For the most pricey ones, I use glass beads to keep the level up, just in case...
Quickest turnover are HP 12, Ardbeg 10 and GlenFarclas 12
Glenfarclas 25, HP30, Talisker 25 and Brora 30 are hidden in the back