I guess if it wasn't as a gift, you could do it and just say that they are old and you don't know how well they will work.

I think that if they are stored correctly, they should work for many years. Candles do not like big fluctuations in temperature. I had some stored with Christmas stuff in the attic that didn't survive the hot / cold shifts up there.

I also have candles stored in my credenza that are probably 15 years old that still work just fine I just burned some at Christmas. They are from Partylite and I know that they are from before we ever bought this house 13 years ago.