How many open bottles do you have?

[C57]

My advice Wanda, FWIW, is not to bother trying to work out how it happened.
Just accept it, decide what level you want open bottles at, and then ignore that figure

[bpbleus]

I finally plucked up enough courage to count my open bottles.... the number turns out to be 46. I really don't know how this has happened.

Follow your own credo, 'I must remember to forget', and everything will be fine tomorrow. And next time you're tempted to do a head count, remember that courage is just a lack of imagination. You can always get around it.

[orange_barnet]

My advice Wanda, FWIW, is not to bother trying to work out how it happened. Just accept it, decide what level you want open bottles at, and then ignore that figure

I finally plucked up enough courage to count my open bottles.... the number turns out to be 46. I really don't know how this has happened.

Follow your own credo, 'I must remember to forget', and everything will be fine tomorrow. And next time you're tempted to do a head count, remember that courage is just a lack of imagination. You can always get around it.

But by understanding how it happened I can improve my open bottle management skills… when you know what your ‘problem’ is you can deal with it (and I think 46 open bottles is a problem for me as I now feel driven to reduce this number drastically and promptly). My concern however is that this situation will spiral further out of control.

I must cling to the optimistic straw that my compulsion to open whisky bottles can be curbed and that I will contain this compulsive behaviour to the confines of my home and my own whisky cabinet …. I do not wish to make newspaper headlines.

I normally don’t suffer from a lack of imagination bpbleus, it is actually the other way around… I have an excess of it and my wandering mind often requires restraint. My predilection for ‘excess’ is quite possibly the root of things here.

Thank you both for your kind advice, I feel better about my open bottle crisis now that I have finally got it off my chest and have faced the matter. I am also inspired by your personal success Nick, in reducing the number of open bottles in your collection – what self-control you have! I shall now take a full inventory of my whisky stocks and will plan a disciplined programme of consumption vs. acquisition. I think I may start to keep a 'whisky diary' which is, I understand, a technique often used in cognitive behaviour therapy.

[karlejnar]

64

5 in the survival kit
63 samples stashed away for later

[orange_barnet]

64

5 in the survival kit
63 samples stashed away for later

[jsaliga]

For me the problem, if it really is a problem, is that as a relative newcomer to whisky I find myself caught up in the adventure of it all. I seem to be looking forward to the next acquisition...a new taste that I haven't tried. So far the journey has been fantastic and I have only bought one bottle that I would not buy again, and even that one I would not call bad whisky.

But some of you have motivated me to really take notice of how many bottles I have open and think about it. Prior to that I would buy a new bottle and usually within a few days would be tempted to pop the cork the pour a dram. Since I adhere to strict limits on consumption -- usually one or two but absolutely no more than three drams in a 24 hour period -- I realized that at the rate I am going soon every bottle I have will be open. With that said, I am determined not to open a new bottle until I empty two.

I also must admit that it is great to have some variety on hand, and this by necessity means a number of open bottles. So maybe I can apply a strategy where I have an open bottle or two from each region, plus a bourbon and rye. I would like to strike a better balance between the number of bottles I have open and my consumption.

--Jerome

[Pudge72]

For me the problem, if it really is a problem, is that as a relative newcomer to whisky I find myself caught up in the adventure of it all. I seem to be looking forward to the next acquisition...a new taste that I haven't tried. So far the journey has been fantastic and I have only bought one bottle that I would not buy again, and even that one I would not call bad whisky.

But some of you have motivated me to really take notice of how many bottles I have open and think about it. Prior to that I would buy a new bottle and usually within a few days would be tempted to pop the cork the pour a dram. Since I adhere to strict limits on consumption -- usually one or two but absolutely no more than three drams in a 24 hour period -- I realized that at the rate I am going soon every bottle I have will be open. With that said, I am determined not to open a new bottle until I empty two.

I also must admit that it is great to have some variety on hand, and this by necessity means a number of open bottles. So maybe I can apply a strategy where I have an open bottle or two from each region, plus a bourbon and rye. I would like to strike a better balance between the number of bottles I have open and my consumption.

--Jerome

I'm with you Jerome, a relative newcomer to this hobby who follows the 'variety is the spice of life' credo when it comes to food and alcohol. I don't mind having 24 bottles open but, like you, I may only have a limited number drams in a week. So while I love being able to crack open a bottle for the new experience, I should keep myself content with what is currently available to me, until I can empty another bottle or two...right?

[jsaliga]

So while I love being able to crack open a bottle for the new experience, I should keep myself content with what is currently available to me, until I can empty another bottle or two...right?

That's what I am aiming for. I want to give myself time to savor and appreciate the bottles I have open.

I'm not so much concerned about the acquisition side of things. If it is something I really want and can afford it, then I will buy it and not worry so much about how many bottles are accumulating. Some of the whisky I have is from silent disilleries and that is a limited and diminishing resource. Better to buy now if I can live with the price rather than wait and miss an opportunity that I might regret. Of course, I won't pass up a good deal on something that is readily available like I did yesterday when I bought a bottle of Maker's 46 bourbon at a particularly attractive price that was too good to walk away from.

--Jerome

[Pudge72]

So while I love being able to crack open a bottle for the new experience, I should keep myself content with what is currently available to me, until I can empty another bottle or two...right?

That's what I am aiming for. I want to give myself time to savor and appreciate the bottles I have open.

I'm not so much concerned about the acquisition side of things. If it is something I really want and can afford it, then I will buy it and not worry so much about how many bottles are accumulating. Some of the whisky I have is from silent disilleries and that is a limited and diminishing resource. Better to buy now if I can live with the price rather than wait and miss an opportunity that I might regret. Of course, I won't pass up a good deal on something that is readily available like I did yesterday when I bought a bottle of Maker's 46 bourbon at a particularly attractive price that was too good to walk away from.

--Jerome

Well played, good sir. I'm with you all the way on this.

[Willie JJ]

decide what level you want open bottles at

I've decided that I want my open bottles at a very high level, but they all seem be nearly empty.

[MacDeffe]

I got exactly 46 open bottles as well. I wouldn't really want less. Why sit around and sip the same 5 bottles when you have 100+ in your house ?

Steffen

[orange_barnet]

I got exactly 46 open bottles as well. I wouldn't really want less. Why sit around and sip the same 5 bottles when you have 100+ in your house ?

Steffen

I'm now beginning to feel more calm about my number of open bottles. (However, I'm struggling to determine the best strategy for managing them... but that's another thread....)

[bpbleus]

I got exactly 46 open bottles as well. I wouldn't really want less. Why sit around and sip the same 5 bottles when you have 100+ in your house ?

Steffen

I'm now beginning to feel more calm about my number of open bottles. (However, I'm struggling to determine the best strategy for managing them... but that's another thread....)

This is not the right place to learn about open bottle management skills. For most people here, denial is a river with crocs (which can come in handy if you run out of water). You'd better ask some normal folk.

I've been able to keep it around 15 (+ a half dozen other spirits) lately. I like the idea of being able to recognize a dram from my opened collection if I were to get one poured blind. It is still a number that is frowned upon outside this platform, though.

[orange_barnet]

This is not the right place to learn about open bottle management skills. For most people here, denial is a river with crocs (which can come in handy if you run out of water). You'd better ask some normal folk.

But I thought you were all normal here... you all are, aren't you?

I like the idea of being able to recognize a dram from my opened collection if I were to get one poured blind.

So do I.

It is still a number that is frowned upon outside this platform, though.

Do you discuss your number outside this platform? I can't find anyone to listen to any conversation that I might open about whisky outside of here.... maybe I'm not taken seriously

As I write, I'm fighting the urge to open another bottle and take my number up to 47...

[MacDeffe]

As I write, I'm fighting the urge to open another bottle and take my number up to 47...

Do it !!!!




Steffen, I'll come help you manage your bottles anyday

Steffen

[Willie JJ]

For most people here, denial is a river with crocs (which can come in handy if you run out of water).

You can drink crocs?

[C57]

He just can't spell anCnocs

[Willie JJ]

The Nile is full of Cnocs?

[C57]

The Rile is full of Crocs

[andyt]

109, I am still haunted by the idea of popping my clogs with untasted whisky on the shelf.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

109, I am still haunted by the idea of popping my clogs with untasted whisky on the shelf.

That's the spirit.

Look, if you have far more going than you can reasonably consume, take a hint from such masters of wealth acquisition as Andrew Carnegie and Bill Gates: give it away. Find interested persons and distribute samples generously, asking nothing in return. Charity is a wonderful thing. (And like Messrs Carnegie and Gates, be sure to leave yourself still far more than you can ever consume.)

[bpbleus]

For most people here, denial is a river with crocs (which can come in handy if you run out of water).

You can drink crocs?

Some people would, if there was no water, ONLY whisky, while others would rather float with them on a poopdeck. It has all been discussed extensively in a recent thread.

[bpbleus]

109, I am still haunted by the idea of popping my clogs with untasted whisky on the shelf.

That's the spirit.

Look, if you have far more going than you can reasonably consume, take a hint from such masters of wealth acquisition as Andrew Carnegie and Bill Gates: give it away. Find interested persons and distribute samples generously, asking nothing in return. Charity is a wonderful thing. (And like Messrs Carnegie and Gates, be sure to leave yourself still far more than you can ever consume.)

I shall dedicate a large walk-in closet to your charity and name it the Tattie Heid Cavern or something to your liking.

[orange_barnet]

Do it !!!!

I did it!

(The bottle kept winking and smiling at me, I couldn't stop myself....)

It is now 47.

[scotchio]

I've given up counting. I'm far beter at opening bottles than finishing them. They just end up in smaller and smaller bottles