I have a bit of a long tale to share, that really can only be appreciated here or maybe in a "fine whiskey forum" - and I don't frequent those. lol The tale involves my late dad's funeral, a Facebook marketplace post, and a once in a lifetime find.
My dad passed away in November, and I needed to travel cross-country to attend his funeral. My dad was a rye and Canadian Whiskey drinker, a taste that I inherited from him, although my preference is the Irish pot stills. While waiting around to leave for the airport, I was browsing FB Marketplace, and someone had posted some liquor for sale. A Texas Mickey of Canadian Whiskey.
Now, my first thought was "That is going to be gone in about 5 minutes once a moderator sees it." My second was "Someone is going to snap that up quick, even though it is $150." Regardless....too good to be true, right?
And I hit the save button, and then went back again a while later. Still there. I started looking closer. OFC Schenley....never heard of it. Hmm....maybe an older bottle. Looked closer.....still sealed? Curiouser and curiouser.....1961? Wth?
Damn....that might be nice to have and toast Dad with, right? He was in the military reserves and Coast Guard for a short time, so a toast with my 9 sibling might be nice. But what are the chances?
I sent a message, asking if they still had it, as some ads are notorious for not getting removed when sold. I got a reply a short time later. Yes, still there...no, not sold.....was I interested? Also, they were a short 20 minute drive away. I was given a phone number and called. My first question was "What's the story behind the bottle?"
The lady told me that her husband had bought it when he was in the Navy for her father in 1961, but then her dad has passed so he kept the bottle. Her husband kept it until he passed away this past March, and now she was clearing things out. I explained what my plans were, and asked her if she would be okay with that....not going to a collector, but being opened for a toast for my dad. She told me she couldn't think of a better ending for the bottle.
I drove up and spent some time with her, chatting and getting a bit of a backstory on her dad and husband, and telling her a bit of mine. She was a lovely lady, and I told her we would make sure we had a toast for both of them along with my dad.
As a reservist myself, I had a baggage allowance, so the plan was to get it a bag of its own. I found a small duffle for it to go into, put it inside two garbage bags, stuffed it completely full of clothes I was taking, and then put it into a hard case small luggage bag. The bottle had to go in the bag diagonally to fit, barely making it in there. We loaded it up, headed to the airport, and almost 2500 miles away, we had it brought with us.
I opened the luggage, pulled out the duffle, and could tell the glass bottle survived. Great. Then I opened the garbage bags and could feel dampness. I have a condition where I cannot smell (asnomia), so I called my wife over who said, "Oh yeah, that's a whiskey smell."
The issue was that the bottle had a large cork sealing the top, and just a little side paper tape seal. Due to Boyle's Law, as we went up in the plane and the pressure went down.....well.....if you're not familiar with Gas Laws the volume of the air above the liquor increased and pushed against the cork until the seal broke.
The good news? We only lost about 20% of a shot glass. I looked at my brother and said "Well?" He looked at me and said "Well?" Our wives said "Well what?"
"WELL IT'S OPEN NOW!"
I tipped the bottle and took a dram.
Oh. My. God.
63 years left alone in a bottle will smooth out Mt Everest.
Oh. My. God. That is the best and smoothest whiskey I have ever tasted in my entire 50 some year life. Unbelievably velvety and smooth. And I wasn't the only one who felt that way. We had my siblings over to the cottage we were at, and other relatives, and everyone was trying it, completely blown away by this 63 year old treasure. After dad's funeral, we toasted him, the original buyer and his father in law as well, taking some pictures and sending them to the lady I bought it from - she was tickled pink about the whole thing.
That night, we started looking around and discussing the liquor. One website my brother found stated that OFC Schenley of Lethbridge, Alberta bottled their last bottle in 1983. So we figured that might make this pretty rare. Then we found a 750ml bottle that was auctioned off for about $700.....rare indeed. Everyone had lots of it, and we still left some at my brother in law's, my brother's, and brought some back with my.
So in the end, we have no idea how much this bottle may have been worth in the unopened condition, but it would still pale in comparison to what it was worth to us for my dad's funeral. And what a coincidence with a healthy dose of luck...
-just happened to see it on FB the day I was flying out
-wasn't removed by a moderator
-wasn't already bought
-purchased originally by a former military guy, like my dad
-cheap enough that I had already decided to get it once I called
-military baggage allowance which only convinced me even more to get it
- the bag barely fit into the duffle diagonally, which kept the cork from pushing out more than allowing a tiny little leak
Anyways.....just a story that I wanted to share, and thought that the crew on here might actually appreciate it like most others wouldn't.
Merry Christmas all.
