You need to be careful smoking cigarettes beyond the use by date as it may be harmful to your health.
Stack spirits! My advise - buy Johnnie walker Gold 18yr and Green label (production has stopped of these two). Green replaced by platinum and Gold 18yr with Gold reserve.
I have an extensive wine collection that is now in "draw down" phase - spent a fortune on cellaring, money wasted. Had 3 bottles of Grange in there that were cellared from purchase - have drank two of them, very uninspiring. 94 and 95 from memory, have a 96 to go. The best performers from the cellaring have been Penfolds 407s, excellent bang for buck, but honestly, it would be cheaper to go to Dan Murphys and just splurge on their museum releases if you wanted an aged wine. I think the Grange cost around the same as an ounce of gold when bought in the 90s - they crashed terribly against gold. Better off buying gold instead of Grange, and selling gold on your kids 21st to buy a bottle then if you want to do that. Overrated from my experience. I have cases of wine that cost the same as a single Grange that provide 12x the drink and actually tasted nicer.
Would only ever stack wine as a hobby (passion). Most spirits will last forever and taste the same the year you buy it as ten years from then. I still believe you need a passion for stacking either/both and would not just do it to expand the investment portfolio.
Bought a case (6 bottles) of Green Label today at the local Dan Murphy's. Last of it left in the store! How are supplies going in other areas? I'm not a big drinker so picked up purely to hold and maybe sell/trade in future. Any tips on storing? Cool area? Is it ok to leave in cardboard box for a few years? Regards.
Storage in the box is fine. Just keep it in an area where its not to hot and no direct light. The only thing that may affect it is evaporation but otherwise shouldn't be a problem. Diageo do not stock the product anymore so whatever is left in stores is all there is. Johnnie Walker products seem to do quite well on ebay - before double black and platinum were available in mainstream markets you could flip them for quite a good profit. Give it some time for the stocks to run out and people to start asking whats happened to it. This is a good one to stack as unlike a limited edition bottling you will be able to genreate interest from people who want to add it to their collection and those who miss the drink.
Coopers Stout doesn't have a best before date, it has a best after date. If you like Coopers stout, they will keep well for years in a cool location and.... are well worth stacking. Also, if you buy the longneck's they are still sold with the crown seal, so... for the older home brewers, you can keep them to add to your bottle stack. Also, consider...Coopers Vintage Ale, it's a very nice, but strong Ale that will stack for long periods of time. H
I briefly looked into buying a barrel of whisky as an investment - then discovered that LOTS of people were scammed by this a few years ago in Australia. Still on the back burner that idea.
The biggest catch is that you have to remember ten or so years after you buy it. My boss got one a few years ago and even the (very reputable) company had forgotten about it until he contacted them (and he only remembered after a random conversation that jogged his memory).
Buying direct from a distillery seems to be the best option - there was a huge scam where an investment company was set up to sell these, and they were warehousing empty barrels.
On a little side note; In the "olden days" in Ireland every farm had a still to make whiskey from the farm's crops. And every farm paid it's taxes (at least in part) in Whiskey. To prevent 'diddling', the tax collector padlocked a big wooden stock over the tap on the barrel that the still emptied into. When it was time to pay the taxman, the tax collector unlocked the tap and took his cut and then the farmer took what was left. The still was highly prized and the last thing that the farmer sold off ...hence the term when a whole farm was sold "Lock, Stock & Barrel" !
It isnt public but was told by a mate who works for diageo in management. His opinion is these are better tostack than green label. Would be interested in others thoughts. Hard to find though, who sells them?
Opinion: They both waaaaay overpriced for their quality. Stack laphroiag and you can also accumulate a lifetime lease of their land and be paid rental (I'm going to be pretty hammered when I claim my past rent )
IMHO Blue is just high octane Green Label that you have to cut-back to be drinkable... but, rather than you getting more nips per bottle, Blue label is so over priced you can get nearly 3 bottles of Green Label for 1 bottle of Blue Label... if that makes sense
Used to think the term had on a firearms-related history (Flint)lock, stock, barrel are all parts of early muskets and percussion firearms.
