I seem to remember one of our regular posters is a whisky expert as they sell it for a living.
Just wondering how rare bottles of whisky are that are 70 per cent proof.
I've inherited a bottle of Haig Gold Label that's 70 per cent.
I know whisky is generally 40 per cent proof now.
Whisky
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recordmeister
- Middle-Aged Spread
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Re: Whisky
Ah, ha. That's me and guilty as charged. You have, in fact, evoked one of the best stories in booze history:
'Proof' is a term used to describe the amount of alcohol in a liquid. Now we express it simply by a % (ie, a pint of bitter is 3.5% alcohol by volume, or abv) but back in the 1700's, things were not quite this simple. When travelling around the globe in ships, sailors were often offered rum (a liquor made from molasse and often matured in oak barrels) as a form of payment for goods traded. To see if the rum was of suitable strength, the sailors would pour some over gun powder and then light it. If the gun powder went off, there was a good amount of alcohol in the rum and was considered to be 'over proof'. However, if there was too mmuch water in the rum, the gun powder would not light and the hooch would be considered 'under proof' and would be rejected.
Once accuate measurements came in, it was found that 100% proof (ie, the amount of alcohol needed to light the gun powder) was 57% abv. Thus, other 'proof' measurements are taken from this, in a complex equation. Needless to say, 70% proof works out in today's new equations as 40% abv. (Fyi, 'proof' on an american bottle of booze is different and is roughly 2x the abv).
Got it? Good.
As for the value of your bottle, it depends on a lot of things so I will DM you some questions tomorrow and then get a value for you. In the mean time, you all want to go to http://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/be ... on-whisky/ to buy my latest, limited edition, single cask bottling (only 296 bottles in the world, at 55.2% abv - so 110 proof in the US! - for a pittance of £54.95).
Phew!
http://www.caskstrengthcreative.com
Blog: http://www.caskstrength.net
'Proof' is a term used to describe the amount of alcohol in a liquid. Now we express it simply by a % (ie, a pint of bitter is 3.5% alcohol by volume, or abv) but back in the 1700's, things were not quite this simple. When travelling around the globe in ships, sailors were often offered rum (a liquor made from molasse and often matured in oak barrels) as a form of payment for goods traded. To see if the rum was of suitable strength, the sailors would pour some over gun powder and then light it. If the gun powder went off, there was a good amount of alcohol in the rum and was considered to be 'over proof'. However, if there was too mmuch water in the rum, the gun powder would not light and the hooch would be considered 'under proof' and would be rejected.
Once accuate measurements came in, it was found that 100% proof (ie, the amount of alcohol needed to light the gun powder) was 57% abv. Thus, other 'proof' measurements are taken from this, in a complex equation. Needless to say, 70% proof works out in today's new equations as 40% abv. (Fyi, 'proof' on an american bottle of booze is different and is roughly 2x the abv).
Got it? Good.
As for the value of your bottle, it depends on a lot of things so I will DM you some questions tomorrow and then get a value for you. In the mean time, you all want to go to http://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/be ... on-whisky/ to buy my latest, limited edition, single cask bottling (only 296 bottles in the world, at 55.2% abv - so 110 proof in the US! - for a pittance of £54.95).
Phew!
http://www.caskstrengthcreative.com
Blog: http://www.caskstrength.net
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A-Ro
- Grumpy old git
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Re: Whisky
You should be charging £55.20.