Do You Keep Whisky Boxes and Tubes?

An interesting question came up in the Facebook group today — the gist of is, why do you keep whisky boxes and tubes?

Personally, I keep some of them.

I put most of my whisky in a cabinet — a pair of simple Ikea Detolf glass display cases. If a bottle is open or I intend to open it in the near future, it sits in there with my glasses.

I put any “special” whiskies up on a bookshelf where I can, from time to time, smile and admire them from afar. Some of them are special treats for myself, gifts from others, or just look nice. I keep those boxes.

Otherwise, I keep the boxes and tubes that I like. If it’s hard to find (or at least hard to find for me!), then I keep it as a reminder.

Adam, in the group, gives a great reason to keep boxes — one that I’m going to steal:

“I keep a few tubes & boxes around for travel purposes. If I’m bringing 2 or 3 bottles to a local club tasting, it’s less stressful to place in tubes first, and then my backpack, rather than having the glass bottles clink around.”

Other reasons include protecting the whisky from light, which is a good reason but my open bottles don’t last long enough for that to matter!

Do you keep your whisky boxes and tubes? Why or why not?

30 thoughts on “Do You Keep Whisky Boxes and Tubes?

  1. I have up until this New Years! We hosted a party and my wife asked why I only put one of my bottles out for guests. (silly question really, I’m cheap!) Anyway, after much thought, I decided to go all the way and put them all out for others to enjoy. What a great experience, I loved it! (I did keep hidden my favorite two). After the party, I decided to leave the bottles out of the box’s as it was a pain to re package them. Only issue I now have is they do not sit well in my cupboard without the ‘like’ packaging.

  2. I actually donate my empties to Good Will. They readily accept them and sell each for a couple of bucks. Recycle, recycle, recycle.

  3. Funny question, and I’m glad to see I’m not the only one having to explain to their wife why there are shelved in the garage (climate controlled, of course) with tubes and boxes from bottles gone. Having seen design changes on some through the years one could make the argument that a few of these c/b worth money one day to collectors. But the truth is I enjoy collecting them. Who knows … at some point I might pay someone much more creative than me to use these as the basis for decorating/papering a full wall in my man cave/scotch den. Imagine the conversation possibilities while sitting around with your fellow addicts enjoying a malt, looking over each detail on an entire canvas riddled with history. Nice!

  4. I keep the packaging on some of the more rarer bottlings I have (the fancy wood ones from Ledig) or if I had it autographed.

    And in the cases of bottles I have bought purely for investment purposes I keep any and all packaging in case I might need it in auction or sales (haven’t sold any yet, but I am prepared if I ever do (odds are it gets drunk by friends and family at my funeral (yes, I want them to do that if I should still have them at my demise).

  5. I don’t keep the tubes or boxes. If I’m going to take some samples with me, we have an insulated wine cooler bag that holds three bottles easily. It’s from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. This way I don’t waste space storing empty boxes, but still have a convenient transport. I also have a free-standing cabinet to store my treasures in, but not with glass doors as you have. Bourbon on the left half, Scotch on the right 🙂

  6. I kept some that I like…shape, label design, etc.; or ones I can’t get here in the States.
    However, what Adam above had suggested is a great idea..think I will keep a few nice and sturdy tubes for the purpose of transporting my future Scotch purchases as well

  7. I keep them all in their original boxes or tube until the bottle is empty. I haven’t bought anything so expensive that it has a wooden box YET, so, until then, the boxes and tubes get tossed.

  8. I have a couple of Bruichladdich blue tines on my desk at work for storage. I have used saved tins to cart bottles of wine safely. And I keep a selection of boxes/tubes based on how much I like the packaging for display purposes, since everything that is unopened is stored in dark cabinets.

      • I’ve had Laddie 10, Laddie Classic, Bruchladdich 12 Year and Port Charlotte Heavily Peated, and so far I love everything about the spirit they produce. It has a lot of character, not necessesarily catering to the masses like Glenfiddich. My journey involves trying as many distilleries as I can, but safe to say, Bruichladdich is one that I never mind repeating.

  9. I do, and my wife hates it. I also use duplicates as mailing tubes to send stuff to all my Facebook girl friends scattered all over the country. My wife hates that too. 😀

  10. I have both golf and whisky friends. Since I live on a golf course and find lots of lost balls I package empty whisky containers with golf balls and give to friends who visit or fun prizes at charity tournaments

    Robert Grose, BC, Canada/Users/RobertGrose/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/proxies/derivatives/10/00/1091/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_1091.jpg

  11. Some. MaCallan 25 year old wooden box and Octomore bottle.
    I have two bottles of the MaCallans unopened in boxes being saved for my grandkids.

  12. I too, keep some of the tubes. Not to reuse for some other purpose, other than as a reminder of some of the finer single malt whiskies that I had the honor of tasting. I do use these containers as a visual prop during some of the tasting events that I host. I do consider even the box that my 110th birthday edition Hazelwood came in to be special. Also, it is much easier to present the tubes or boxes rather than the bottles, which may have liquid that I do not want to share with the group. The hand bound leather case that my finest whisky came in will always be treasured.

  13. I have kept about a dozen for different reasons. I keep my change ( coins) in these, each denomination gets a different tube. I also keep nails, screws, bolts and washers in them.
    When I clean out my different drawers of personal stuff I can’t seem to throw away, they go in a tube that also never gets thrown away. Frustrating .

  14. Boxes I get rid of. I do keep some tubes from samples that I like so I remember what I want to get in the future or at least look for where it is available around me.

  15. Great idea to keep a few tubes or boxes for travel purposes, I will have to try that in the future. Generally I do not keep most the boxes or tubes once the bottles are open. I do have one or two special bottles which I do keep in the boxes to protect them from light. Laphroaig 25 comes to mind. A special bottle from my kids

  16. I keep a few of the more expensive brands I’ve bought. I moved a few months ago and packed my spare change into an Oban tube and nearly filled it up. Tubes are stronger, safer and more discreet than glass.

    Tubes are generally sturdy packaging and can be stuffed with all kinds of small items.

  17. Have only really kept one tube. My first. Bought it last week. The Balvenie 12year doublewood. Have had a taste every night since having the good sense to pick it up. Will likely keep the bottle as well.

  18. I keep tubes and boxes until a bottle is empty. Once it’s empty, if it was a very special bottle I turn the bottle itself into a lamp. I’ll keep tubes of more special bottles. I haven’t finished any of the more expensive boxed bottles yet. Soon. So I’ll have to make a decision.

  19. I have been keeping metal tubes for maybe 20 years. Sometimes use them to bring bottles with flimsy containers on flights. Sometimes ise for coins or old batteries I eventually take to the dump. Some I just keep to admire their art or the product they once contained.

  20. I use them, to store change, carry lunch/water to work, plastic bag lined cookie cannister, hold bottles of cleaners, waxes, fluids in the garage, Bookers boxes are reused by the grill and in the kitchen for rubs, seasonings, hot sauces, napkins, utensils etc..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.