Who knew there were "barn finds" for drinkers?

What do you drink, and how do you drink it?

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raketemensch
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Who knew there were "barn finds" for drinkers?

Post by raketemensch »

A friend of mine was helping his mom-in-law clean out her basement, and stumbled onto some of grampa's 40-60 year old booze stash. He snagged bottles of whiskey, cognac and anise.

The whiskey was incredibly complex. Flavors all over the tongue, and it continued to change long after you'd swallowed. It still had some burn, too, I've had much younger, much smoother whiskeys, but the flavor was totally worth it. Pretty amazing and humbling, to be honest:
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Plus, that label is just too cool.

The anise was really good. You could tell that the angels had taken their share, and I'm not usually a fan of this style of liquor, but oh man, was this stuff tasty. Anisette is usually sharp, but this was ridiculously smooth, with all of the flavor. I'm dying to try it over some vanilla ice cream, heresey or not:
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The cognac was the big winner, though. This stuff was awesome. Loads of flavor, no burn, and still with a bit of sweetness to it. I could drink this stuff all day:
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MichiganCornhusker
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Re: Who knew there were "barn finds" for drinkers?

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

Wow, great find.
I ran across a similar deal a few years ago, but all of the stuff was either cheap spirits or not as old.
There was one off brand bottle of a Galliano type liqueur that I wish I had kept to ship out to cranky so that Mrs. Cranky could have compared it in her cake recipe.

I did end up keeping about a gallon and a half of sweet red vermouth. I've thought about distilling it but not gotten around to it. Never gonna drink that many Manhattans.
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Coyote
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Re: Who knew there were "barn finds" for drinkers?

Post by Coyote »

I was gifted a 1/2 a fifth of Canadian Club

It had a 1977 dated strip over the lid, The feller who
gave it to me said they were afraid to drink it because
it was so old. Reportedly was give to him by the widow
of the great Bob Chambers. Thought I would enjoy the memories.

Said don't drink it it may be dangerous


They were wrong. . . It was wonderful

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cranky
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Re: Who knew there were "barn finds" for drinkers?

Post by cranky »

I once bought a collection of airline bottles from an estate sale with tax stamps from the 70s, I may even have them somewhere if my son didn't find them and decide to help himself. I should look for them, should be pretty good stuff by now.
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Re: Who knew there were "barn finds" for drinkers?

Post by DSM Loki »

Had a bottle of el Toro from the 70s. Developed a smoky flavor. Was very interesting.
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Re: Who knew there were "barn finds" for drinkers?

Post by jb-texshine »

Lol,i have a bottle of gusamios mezscal with the worm and all still unopened from twenty years ago. I suspect that it is still undrinkable shit. Had a hell of a time in Boy's Town on that trip.
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Bushman
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Re: Who knew there were "barn finds" for drinkers?

Post by Bushman »

Doesn't surprise me, we have had members put liquor away to allow it to age and forgot about them finding them some 5+ years later.
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Re: Who knew there were "barn finds" for drinkers?

Post by bluefish_dist »

I was at a private hunting club and they had liquor lockers to hold your liquor as they did not have a license to serve. Turns out the guy who invited us was a second generation member and he inherited his fathers stash when he passed away. He had a bottle with a 1960's tax stamp that was unopened. Wish I had paid more attention to what it was when he opened it.
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Grappa-Gringo
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Re: Who knew there were "barn finds" for drinkers?

Post by Grappa-Gringo »

I was lucky enough to get all of my dad's old stuff that he collected and kept in the cellar after he passed away. My brother doesn't drink, nor does my sister, so it was all mine.
Bottles were near 40 years old... Vecchia Romana Cognac, Galliano, Anisett (with the dancing ballerina) Aquavit from Bassano Italy, and some other ones from Italy that I've never seen. I tried to see if the local liquor board would want to buy them back, as some still had seals on them, but no luck.
Coming across those type of treasures is awesome!
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raketemensch
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Re: Who knew there were "barn finds" for drinkers?

Post by raketemensch »

Wow, y'all have stumbled onto some nice stashes. Some good stories, too.
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