My family and I were going through my grandmother’s apartment after her passing to get her estate in order. After all was said and done, I got a bunch of alcohol she had for guests mostly, including two types of whiskey (scotch and regular), some gin, and three flavors of vodka. I tried some of the Crown Royal and it didn’t taste too good. Also didn’t taste like the last glass of whiskey I had before. Of course I always hear about stuff aged 4 years or 12 years etc. so I wonder if it’s a “gone bad” thing or a me thing.
You’ve obviously gotten the base level answer, but to add some color here - certain types of food, such as dried pasta, rice, beans, grains, high proof alcohol, vinegars, and basically anything frozen to name a few, never spoil in the sense that they’re unsafe to eat.
Flavor, however, is an entirely different matter. Just ask anyone who has eaten freezer burnt food.
Pretty much any high proof alcohol will fall into this category. And, if it’s unopened, it should retain most of its flavor for a very long time. Once opened, however, it can deteriorate relatively quickly, depending on how it was stored.
With the caveat that many food borne illnesses are not killed when frozen. If something was contaminated when frozen it can remain contaminated when thawed (to your point though I don’t think many things that are fine when frozen can become unsafe while frozen)
Your list of semi non-perishable foods does need some caveats about storage, because most of those things can go bad, depending on how they were stored.
Frozen meat can spoil, as not all bacterial growth stops, some just slows down a whole lot. So if Grandma threw in a store plastic wrapped tray of chicken quarters, after being in the fridge for 3 days, and now it’s 8 years later, those might not be safe for human consumption.
Stuff that was vacuum sealed, much more likely to last the long haul in the freezer, if done properly.
Long-term stored grain, when not in vacuum sealed or other airtight containers, can develop molds or other bacterial contaminations.
Improperly stored vinegar, if you try to use it…it will ruin your salad dressing, and taste like shit. But it’s pretty easy to see if vinegar has gone ick.
Can’t say I’ve ever seen moldy or spoiled vinegar, but I’ve seen the type of kitchens that would be capable of making it happen in a long enough time frame.
I’ve also never seen bad dry storage pasta or beans, but I imagine they carry the same long-term storage concerns as grains, even if they’re probably a bit more durable.