The Bottomless Bottle of Whisky
TJ Shirk • April 5, 2021
My journey into an infinity bottle.
Wouldn’t that be amazing! A bottle of whisky* that never ends. Years of enjoyment lasting an eternity, almost to infinity you might say. An endless bottle does not exist and will never exist. It’s impossible and bad for business. But there is something that you can experiment with and get that bottomless outcome. The infinity bottle.
More than just an endless bottle, an infinity bottle - also referred to as a “fractional bottle” or “living bottle” - is a truly personal blending experience. Always evolving and never the same as the fluid level in the bottle changes. As long as you are adding to your infinity bottle, it will never run dry.
You may be wondering: How would one begin an infinity bottle? Well, being that this is a personal experience, the decision is solely up to you. I began mine in October 2020 after seeing a video on YouTube. At that time, the world had (and still is at the time of this entry) been in a global pandemic, and like many people I found myself quarantined and looking for something to do. I decided to give this a try, both as a tasting experiment and as an inspiration to begin journaling.
The video suggested using a decanter or nice bottle to begin with. I’ve found that many decanters have issues with evaporation so I looked for a bottle with a synthetic cork stopper, as I feel it would provide a better seal in the long term. I had been holding on to a finished bottle of Stranahan’s Original Rocky Mountain Single Malt and liked it’s classic, sleek, frontier style bottle. It also had the stopper I was after, and the label - being more plastic or vinyl sticker rather than paper - allowed for it to be removed cleanly.
After thoroughly rinsing the bottle I was now ready to begin.
Most people start by simply pouring the remnants, an ounce or less, into one vessel and letting it grow. Some pour in the first pour from a freshly opened bottle. A “one for me, one for you” type thing. You could even commemorate a milestone like a wedding to begin a bottle with each of your groomsmen. Enjoy a nice bottle together and each pour some into your own bottles to start. I had several different bottles opened at the time and decided to start my bottle with a generous two-ounce pour from each. That initial feeding consisted of The Glenlivet 12 year old, Glenfiddich 12 year old, Knob Creek Small Batch Bourbon and J.P. Wiser’s Deluxe Canadian Whisky. Since that first fill, I now pour any remaining quantity less than two ounces into the infinity bottle.
You may also want to make exemptions for what goes in your bottle. For me, I stay away from peated malts and flavoured whiskies. Too much smokey flavour or cinnamon and apple could dominate the bottle.
As for the journaling side of this experiment, when I began I was using a notepad and just documenting the amount, the brand of whisky, it’s ABV% and the date it was added to the bottle. I eventually found a really nice leather bound notebook with hand-made paper and dug out the fountain pen I received as a Christmas gift years before and transferred my notes into that. You may not want to go that far; you may want to get biblical with this hobby and carve it in stone! Go nuts! Some people print their own label that they paste on to the bottle and fill in, some log it electronically, I’m sure some don’t do anything but pour in and drink out. Again, it’s all up to you. I will begin tasting from my bottle when I pass the one year mark and put those tasting notes in my journal.
As something that can have zero up-front cost (reusing a bottle, bottles on the go and scrap paper) you can make this experiment as big or small as you want. As narrow or wide ranging as you want. As free or as time consuming as you want. You may notice, through journaling, habits about yourself. Seasons or periods where you possibly drank more of one particular style of whisky. That summer of rye or year of bourbon. Or remember back to a particular bottle, and that experience, and see if you can pick it out in the blend.
You may sample your bottle one day and not enjoy it. However, as William Faulkner once said, “There is no such thing as bad whisky. Some whiskies just happen to be better than others”. You can look back at all that you’ve added and try something new to take it in a different direction. The point is that it will always be different and a snapshot in time of your whisky journey.
I hope this article finds you well. Please feel free to try this out. If you have made an infinity bottle, please share your experience with us by commenting below or by emailing oenzymblog@gmail.com.
Always enjoy responsibly.
*As a Canadian writer, I’ll use the Canadian and Scottish spelling of Whisky. In these instances I am referring to all whiskies and include American and Irish whiskey in this parlance.