Let the Bottle Breathe............Or Wait??

Unfortunately while I don't know which bottles benefit from oxidation but Im sure our more seasoned veterans in the whisky hobby would know. For what I do know I prefer to open as soon as I wish to consume its contents. Maybe you can share with your friends with them freshly opened and then a little later to compare tasting notes.

@Buoy37 Are these blends really smokey or peaty blends? In that case I do find that some whiskies that are really smokey or peaty can benefit a little bit by a wee bit of oxidazition. However if these blends are blends such as Johnnie Walker or Chivas, etc (you get the idea) then I'd personally crack the bottles open when my friends arrive.

However if you're looking for something fun to do what you can do is grab some smaller bottles, say 300mls or whatever you have handy. Open the bottles and decant a portion of each bottle into it's own smaller sample bottles. That way when your friends arrive you can do a tasting featuring whiskies straight out of the bottle with very little oxidation vs whiskies that have been open for a month or so. Sort of can you spot the difference? :D I've had fun doing that with friends before.

Is there any sort of general rule to this? I cracked open my bottle of Knob Creek 9 yesterday (couldn't help myself, I wanted to give it a whiff. Didn't pour from it yet, though). I probably won't get around to having a pour of it for another ~1.5 weeks, though.

Should I get a pour from the fresh bottle tonight just to get the more-or-less freshly opened bottle experience, or is this an example of a whisky that might do well with a little bit of time?

@HughesDePayens, my suggestion is to try it all. Take a sip of the newly opened bottle, but be aware than many, probably most, whisk(e)ys reveal their full flavours better with some oxidation. That time for 'opening up' is highly variable whiskey to whiskey, and can range from a few days to many months, typically. In rare cases some whiskies are much better after much more than a year. Your Knob Creek will probably be in its typical best zone between about 6 weeks and 6 months opened.

@Victor Thanks a ton for the advice. I will see how it evolves, then, and will try to keep it around for long enough to see how it tastes in a while. :)

Personally the one whisky that I had that really upset me with it's oxidation was Macallan 12 yr old Fine Oak. My bottle went VERY oaky within about a month or so, very bitter with lots of tannins and away from the lovely fruit flavors that it had displayed when it was freshly opened. Other then that while there have been changes, there haven't been any where I was so upset about the bottle changing. At times it's quite cool to see the whisky evolve. If it's a special bottle that I want to retaste as it was right out of the bottle for the first time I'll decant a small portion into a sample bottle, or if I'm sending a whisky sample to a friend I'll decant into a smaller bottle immediately upon opening, Otherwise I tend to move through my bottles within a year or so of opening so I don't worry too much about oxidation anymore.

I wonder if the type of cask affects how the whisky will oxidize? I still haven't opened enough bottles myself to have good sample size to make any strong conclusions about this, but I got the feeling whiskies that's aged some in sherry casks has an intensity/edge that's most prominent just after opening, and just a couple of weeks later gets a little less sharp. Don't know if it's just in my head or just a coincidence.