1885 Oxygenee Absinthe FOUND

Topic created by patrick
on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 at 22:35

patrick said on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 at 22:35...

A family friend recently inherited a wine/liquor cellar that was built in the late 1800's. I have been a wine collector for 20 years and they do not drink, therefor they asked me to inventory and sell the cellars contents.

While inventorying this cellar I found bottles dating from 1800-1925. There were 1885 Oxygenee absinthe, 1900 H. Bazinet absinthe, 1880 John Powers whiskey, 1847 Old Antiqua rum, 1900 Bacardi rum, etc. The list is quite extensive.

I thought I would put a post on this site to see if anyone has any interest in purchasing any of the absinthe. The bottles are full and sealed and very rare. If there is any interest in these please email me at pcruise2000@gmail.com I would be happy to provide photos of these bottles or of any of the bottles from the cellar. Thank you.

Patrick

La Fee Vertigo said on Sun, 12 Aug 2012 at 20:55...

Sounds too good to be true...but what do I know? Why don't you contact a fine spirits / wine (elsewhere you have said you have Chateau Haut-Brion 1881-1884) dealer and sell the lot at a regulated auction? It would make economic sense as well.....

patrick said on Sun, 12 Aug 2012 at 23:38...

I know it does sound too good to be true, however it is true. This is the only time in my life I have seen such bottles. This cellar was closed for 80 years and when the gentleman died he left it in his will to his employee.

I thought about an auction, but if the right people are not there then the bottles would sell for potentially far less than they are worth. I would prefer to sell to collectors also because at auction a 1000 dollar item costs the buyer 1210 and the seller gets 790. The auction house then puts 420 in their pocket. That's almost half the bottle selling price.

I'd rather not give money like that to an auction house with no guarantee of the item selling for market value.

Patrick

Tante Leen said on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 at 16:41...

"This cellar was closed for 80 years"

Oh yes? Why was that? I wonder what else you might find.......

La Fee Vertigo said on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 at 15:15...

lol

THEABSINTHEPROFESSOR said on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 at 18:27...

If this is the same absinthe cache it allegedly was found in a hotel cellar. Patrick, how did you arrive at the exact date 1885?

Old Nick said on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 at 11:28...

An interesting find I suppose. Is this the one with a bottle of Bazinet absinthe that nobody has seen before, Prof?

I would love to hear more details (now highly unlikely due to the cynical loaded remarks of the few) Has anyone ever tasted pre-ban absinthe?

La Fee Vertigo said on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 at 21:07...

I was not alone in being skeptical! One should always be so or perhaps "acheter un chat en poche" is the best way to be...

THEABSINTHEPROFESSOR said on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 at 17:13...

Quite the contrary! It is Patrick who should watch out! I advise him to be very careful with the snake pit of absinthe "collectors" after what I was reading today! I wonder if if he has agreed to some re-sale deal....samples being sent out in tubes. Not buyer beware, seller beware!

La Fee Vertigo said on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 at 19:10...

What did I advise him to do??????????? Hmmmm? Send it to an reputable auction house. I am well aware of the "pistols at dawn" amateur dramatics that arise when these old absinthe bottles turn up. Better that the absinthe divas (and any other interested party) get a chance to buy it in an open and fair arena, right?

THEABSINTHEPROFESSOR said on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 at 10:26...

Patrick told you why he did not choose that option to sell his absinthe.

Patrick said on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 at 21:10...

Hello,

I thought I would comment on some of the posts. I have been out of the country on my normal job for two months but got home a couple of weeks ago. With regard to the cellar. I have actually had an expert from Bonham's auction house come by and look at all of the bottles. In addition to this gentleman I also received the opinion of Charlie MacLean, who is one of the leading experts on whisky and scotch in the world. They, as well as some other experts have authenticated this entire collection. They were extremely amazed about this collection.

The reason the bottles haven't moved in over 90 years is due to the fact that they originally were owned by a hotel. During prohibition the owner had the bottles moved from the hotel to a secret cellar on his property in an adjacent building. At the end of prohibition they built a new cellar in the main house and wound up buying all new alcohol. This old cellar was locked and sealed and the cellar was actually behind a false door. So unless someone knew where to look they would not have found it.

Also, with regard to the absinthe, I had the Oxygenee dated to appx 1895 and the Bazinet to appx 1905. I was close in guessing their original age, but had this confirmed by experts in the absinthe field. By the way, the entire collection is still intact and complete, minus a bottle of Jack Daniels from 1895 which sold for 5500.

I have finished putting a letter regarding this cellar's provenance together along with a list of all the bottles. In total there are 76 bottles of liquor. If anyone is interested in seeing this list please let me know.

Many Thanks,
Patrick

Old Nick said on Mon, 3 Dec 2012 at 16:05...

Thanks so much for taking the time to write, Patrick. As usual in the world of absinthe there is a pervasive sense of high drama and intrigue (I am not a psychiatrist, maybe they would know why this is always so)

I hope that you have luck getting the very best prices for this interesting collection. I also hope it ends up in the hands of proper people and not the poseurs and bombastic windbags that have been the curse of the "absinthe crowd" for so very long now.

Anonymous said on Tue, 1 Jan 2013 at 17:32...

When two tribes go to war...absinthe has an ability to bring out all kinds of weird stuff. Human beings are essentially insecure and absinthe is a "@#$% you" totem for some.