The Whiskey Infinity Bottle, Explained⁠↗

The idea of the personal infinity bottle seems to have caught on with whiskey aficionados around 2012, after a video by YouTuber Ralphy Mitchell. The basic idea is to find an empty vessel — like a blending bottle or decanter — then pour in a dram of any new whisky that you buy. That said, you can also fill your infinity bottle with the ends of various whiskies that you haven’t got around to finishing.

While the infinity bottle has picked up traction in recent years among whiskey collectors, its roots go back much further. In fact, it is based on an ongoing distillery practice known as “solera”. According to Sherry Notes, the solera system probably originated in 18th century Spain as a way of ageing and fractionally blending sherries. Basically, it is a practice of older casks of sherry being topped up with newer ones, creating a consistency of flavor and quality.

Oak Bottle warns against combining scotch, bourbon and rye — although bear in mind that others will marry them merrily. As Whiskey For The Ages points out, “It’s your bottle. Do what you want”. And if you’d like to keep track of what’s being poured in, Punch suggests Ralphy Mitchell’s practice of adding a label to your bottle listing what you’ve added by date.

if there is a single rule to maintaining an infinity bottle, it’s to never let it go empty — in fact, you want to keep it topped right up. Meaning that every time you pour a dram from out it, you should replace it with an equal measure of whiskey. In this way, your infinity bottle is never-ending and always evolving, with a flavor profile that can literally change day by day. It can be a “living” whiskey, a reflection of you and eventually, even a treasured family heirloom.