LG,
I hope you know we aren't out to tear you down. What we ARE trying to do is to open your eyes a bit, because right now they seem to be sort of squinting the way I do when I look in the mirror and am trying not to see the wrinkles.
This IS a return to drinking--a relapse--assuming that he ever really HAS been sober. That seems debatable based on what you've posted. You're going on what HE has been telling you, and truthfulness does not seem to be his strong suit. You FOUND the bottle--he didn't tell you about it.
He's behaving the way active alcoholics do. It's the same way I behaved when I was drinking. He's not a monster, but he's a sick dude, and what I'm seeing in your posts is a real reluctance to acknowledge how bad it really is.
I think it's great if you are able to go about your life and not suffer because of what is going on with him. But you need to SEE what's going on with him. Acknowledge it, to yourself. He's a mess right now. He's sorta kinda holding it together, but it's coming apart, more and more. And it will continue to go that way until HE is ready to make it stop.