Publish Date
March 2026
Infinity Bottle Guide: How to Start and Track Your Blend
Tyler Berry
Whisky Collector
An infinity bottle is one of the simplest and most rewarding experiments in whisky. You take the last pour from a finished bottle and add it to a shared decanter. Over time, that decanter becomes a blend entirely unique to you. No one else in the world has one that tastes the same.
The concept goes by a few names. Infinity bottle, solera bottle, living bottle, fractional bottle. The idea is the same: a constantly evolving blend built from the remnants of your collection.
Here's how to start one, what to think about as it develops, and how to keep track of what goes in.
Getting started
You need a vessel. An empty whisky bottle works fine. A decanter works if you prefer the look. Some people use a flask. The only requirement is that it seals properly. You don't want evaporation working against you.
Pour in the last 20-30ml from a bottle you've finished. That's it. Your infinity bottle has begun.
There's no minimum amount to add. Some people pour in a full dram (25-35ml). Others tip in whatever's left at the bottom, even if it's just a splash. Both approaches work. The point is that every addition contributes something.
What to put in
This is where people overthink it. The most common question is "should I only use similar whiskies?" and the honest answer is: it depends on what you want.
Same category. Some collectors keep a bourbon infinity bottle and a Scotch infinity bottle separately. This creates a more coherent blend where the components complement each other. If you're just starting out, this is the safer approach.
Everything goes in. Other collectors throw in anything they finish, regardless of type, region, or style. Bourbon alongside Islay alongside Japanese alongside rye. The result is unpredictable, sometimes surprisingly good, occasionally chaotic. But it's always interesting.
Curated additions. A middle ground. You taste before you pour. If the whisky was good, it goes in the infinity bottle. If it was mediocre or you didn't enjoy it, it doesn't. This way, your infinity bottle is built exclusively from bottles you rated highly.
There's no wrong approach. The beauty of an infinity bottle is that it's yours and the rules are whatever you decide they are.
The flavour evolution
The first few additions create a volatile blend. Two or three whiskies mixed together can taste disjointed. That's normal. The magic happens around the 8-10 addition mark, when the blend starts to develop its own character that's distinct from any of its components.
After 15-20 additions, most infinity bottles settle into something genuinely cohesive. The individual contributions blur together and a new flavour profile emerges. This is when people start getting attached to their blend.
Every time you add something new, the blend shifts slightly. A heavily peated addition will push the whole thing in a smoky direction. A sweet bourbon will pull it back. Over months and years, the blend tells the story of your collecting journey in liquid form.
Keeping track of what goes in
This is where most infinity bottles fall apart. After a dozen additions, you can't remember what's in there. Was it the Glenfarclas or the Glendronach that went in last month? How much of the blend is bourbon versus Scotch?
A paper log works but it's easy to lose. A note on your phone works but it gets buried. The most reliable method is tracking it alongside the rest of your collection.
At minimum, record three things for each addition: what you added, how much (even a rough estimate), and when. This lets you reconstruct the composition at any point and understand why the blend tastes the way it does.
If you want to go further, track the running composition as percentages. After pouring in 30ml of Ardbeg 10 and 25ml of Woodford Reserve, your blend is roughly 55% Ardbeg and 45% Woodford. The maths gets more complex as additions accumulate, but seeing the percentage breakdown is satisfying and useful.
Tasting your infinity bottle
Don't just pour from it. Taste it properly. Write notes. Score it. Treat it like any other whisky in your collection, because it is one.
The interesting thing about tasting an infinity bottle over time is that your notes change. The same blend tastes different after a new addition, and your notes capture that evolution. Looking back at six months of tasting notes on the same bottle, watching the flavour shift with each addition, is one of the more unique experiences in whisky collecting.
When is it "finished"?
Never, if you don't want it to be. That's the point. As long as you keep adding and keep drinking from it, the bottle lives on. The blend you're sipping tonight contains traces of every bottle that's ever gone in, diluted and transformed but still present.
Some collectors have infinity bottles that span five or ten years of additions. The liquid in the decanter today is nothing like what was in there at the start, but there's a continuous thread connecting every version.
Track your infinity bottle with Cabinet
Cabinet's infinity blend feature tracks everything that goes into your blend. Add a pour from any bottle in your collection, specify the amount, and Cabinet updates the composition automatically. You'll see a visual breakdown of what's in your blend and the percentage each whisky contributes.
You can also write tasting notes on the blend itself, separate from the notes on individual bottles. Track how it evolves over time and score it as it changes.
Start your infinity bottle. Track it for free.
