Post #533316 by Doctor Z on Mon, May 31, 2010 12:20 PM

On 2010-05-31 11:02, harro wrote:
Picked up these vintage miniatures from the market here in London yesterday...

The guy at the market seemed to know his stuff as he showed me a lot of old rum bottles (all full and apparently unopened), some dating back to 1750 supposedly. Of course these came with a hefty price tag to match. I skipped the expensive stuff but haggled for some miniatures - he said this rum mini dated back to around 1880/1890 and is in good unopened condition therefore could be enjoyed if desired. I'm ever the skeptic though...

By the way it had a price tag of $40, but I paid £5 for it and £5 for the 3 minis of pastis - so £10 all up - bargain i say, as i have been trying to avoid paying £20 for a whole bottle of Pernod just for the few drops that some cocktails require. They were from the 1950's or 60's - i assume these will be ok for cocktails but i will give them a taste test first.

My question is, since they've been patiently saved and unopened for so long, is it wrong for me to just want to open the rum and try what the sailors and pirates were drinking back in the day?? Or should i admire the age and antique itself and try to make it last another 100 years or so?!

Or is this really just a few decades old?

I've been collecting minis for a couple of years now and even though I'm no expert on them by any means (more of just a collector than aficionado), the first thing I'd say is "NO!" don't even think of opening and drinking them, especially the twist-off caps. Anything that hasn't been sealed with wax is certain to have spoiled by now, even if they are only a few decades old, as the twist-offs are. It's entirely common to find minis still completely sealed, but also completely empty, as they're not made for the 'long haul', and the contents easily evaporate through the lower quality seals over time, even if they are cork. In the US, all minis are required to have a tax stamp which makes them much easier to date; European bottles are much more difficult, so it's hard to tell the age of the rum bottle, but it's certainly not from the 1800's. Keep checking online: John Sullivan at 'minivodkaguy.com' has one of your bottles here - bottom row. I've purchased bottles from him in the past - maybe he'll have some answers for you. My 2 cents: just appreciate the bottles for what they are & how they look and avoid opening them for any reason.