To have given this as a gift?

[JMSA]

A colleague really helped me out today, and I wanted to give her a token of my appreciation. I remembered that I had a lovely, unused bottle of limoncello that I bought while in Sicily over the summer. So when she dropped me off at home after work today, I nipped inside to grab it for her.
On taking it out of the cupboard, I saw that the cellophane had been removed from the stopper and a wee bit was missing. Bloody teenagers! (not underage, I hasten to add).
I gave it to her anyway because I was completely caught out. But now I feel silly and a bit embarrassed. I'm hoping she won't mind. It could only have been opened recently and she is very thrifty - as well as an incredibly resourceful and amazing human being - so I know that it definitely won't go to waste. She likes the drink and is a keen baker, etc.
I'm hoping that maybe she'll think it's more authentically Italian with the cellophane removed, and that that's how it's supposed to look

Would you be insulted by this gift? I would have lined up something else had I known the bottle was opened.

Do you think it was obvious it was opened?

Had you told her you were giving it to her or were you pretending to have bought it for her ?

Id be fine if I knew and you had explained.

Er...I wouldn't appreciate being given an opened bottle of anything tbh, not as a gift. If it was a case of 'here's some Limoncello you can have, I don't like it' then it would be a different story. How do you know your teenagers haven't drunk the lot and replaced it with some kind of squash?

Congratulations - you're now the crazy lady at work who gives people half drunk bottles of booze! 😂

I would think it a bit odd tbh, like you were trying to get rid of a drink you had tried but didn't like!

What did you say when you gave it to her? I think it’s probably fine and a kind thought.

Sorry op but I would think you're mad. And a bit icky for lack of a better word 😅. I wouldn't want a bottle of alcohol that had been opened and drank, no.

I think you should just explain the whole thing to her and say sorry for giving her an opened bottle of booze. Blame the teens! She'll understand.

Oh no, I'm dying!

They're too lazy for such ingenuity.

I think this is pretty rude tbh. Rather than give her a gift you’ve thought about and suits her, you’ve given her something in the back of the cupboard and has been opened. You’re now forcing her to show thanks for an utterly thoughtless gift. I’d be pretty annoyed. If it’s obviously open she will know it’s something you had knocking about at home and didn’t care whether she wanted or not. I would sooner have no gift.

She genuinely seemed delighted.

Naaah I'd have picked up something else another day.

Did you explain when you gave it to her? I know I wouldn't mind in the least if you had told me what you put in your OP.
Otherwise yes, bit odd to give an obviously opened bottle of anything.

But the whole helping me out thing was so last minute. And because my last day at that particular workplace is on Thursday, I may well never see her again.
I honestly did mean well.

I'm kicking myself now.

I'm sure it's fine, you said she's thrifty... not like it was a birthday gift.

No, definitely not. Just a little thank you.

It depends. Did you tell her “wait here I’ve got an unused bottle of limoncello you can have as you helped me out” Because I think personally to save the anxiety you’re feeling you should just message her and say that you’ve just found out the kids have had some and you’ll buy her a new bottle and bring it in the morning.

TBF I can remember doing something similar when I was younger, and to this day I wonder about it, so I do feel your pain!!

@JMSA sorry to agree with the others. I often give things to my neighbours that I've bought & tried but didn't like & we give each other what's fresh but won't last when we're going away etc. same with friends if I have something I opened & didn't like, but always with that explanation. I'd never try to pass it off as a gift & id find it weird if they tried to pass it off as a gift.

im not sure I'd want it if I didn't know you/your family well, who knows if they've been drinking it out of the bottle.

with gifts it's the THOUGHT that counts! & this just says 'I feel obliged to give you a gift, this opened bottle will do'. Not something you bought for her!

yep, not your best move!

I would of thought it was a lovely thought ... not like you gave her half a bottle with fag ends in 😂

Depends on what you said to her. Sounds like you fobbed it off as something you bought for her?

I'd be disgusted and throw it in the bin unless the context had been explained and I was given a choice of accepting it or not

Might as well have done imo

Is it obvious it had been opened? That's the crux of it, I'd have thought. But she liked it, it's in the past. I would forget it unless she brings it up, in which case confess and offer to bring round a bottle of wine.