"Dale Williams" > wrote in message
...
> Scotch and whisky don't improve (or decline) once bottled. These are worth
> exactly what they would be new, though you'd get less than a retail store
(why
> would anyone pay an individual as much, and labels are likely unsightly).
>
> I personally don't know any wine collector (and I know a lot!) who would
buy a
> bottle that had been sitting upright in a dry room for 50 years. Sorry.
>

....all of the above is true but please do not ignore the human element
in this whole question: people collect things, and some very weird
things are quite valuable to the right person. Very old bottles of
wine have auctioned off at immoderate prices to wine collectors
(that is, collectors of old wine bottles, not of the wine itself) so you
probably would be well advised to dig the stuff out, figure what it
is and list it somewhere. You might start here with the wines or
take a look at eBay to see what other similar things are floating
around the market. As Dale noted, the spirits don't deteriorate so
there might be some value there, and some things (a 50 year old
Cognac bottling, perhaps) might just be very interesting. What a
wonderful way you have of passing a few days and learning about
something new. Good luck.

pavane