Old Shellac Flakes

The gooy mass indicates the flakes are getting old.
I do not have personal experience with this, but an old french polisher explained the following to me:
First thing you would do is the metal test. Put a drop on a smooth hard surface - painted metal or glass, wait a half hour or so and see if the solution drys and gets hard. If it goes, you can strain out the goo and use the rest.
The french polisher says that the resultant solution is as good if not better that fresh flakes because it has polymarized to some extent and will produce a harder finish. The bottom line, of course, is this is just his opinion and experience. Of course you are no longer sure of the cut as you have left some of the shellac resin behind.
I'll let you make your own judgement on this, but since you have already used the everclear, you might at least experiment with the results and see what you think.
If you discover anything interesting, I'd appreciate hearing the results.
The old dry flakes can not be reprocessed easily, if at all.