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Cork shattering upon opening a new bottle of single malt

 
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Quaich1
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 9:25 pm    Post subject: Cork shattering upon opening a new bottle of single malt Reply with quote

I have opened a very many single malt bottles over many years and have never had a cork break as I am twisting the bottle open before today. It was with a bottle of Glencadam 12 Portwood Finish stored in an appropriate place unopened for a few years. I was able to get the remaining large piece of cork out with a wine corkscrew and not a bit of the cork went into the whisky at all which is fortunate, I had a cork of similar size and it worked just fine on the bottle. Close call. Comments or similar situations you may have encountered? Cheers.
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Mark
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 9:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It has happen to me a couple of times in the past but I suspected the bottles had spent some time in the shop from where I purchased them stored on their sides and the whisky had eaten away at the cork.
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TheWM
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 10:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Only happened to me once Murray - a 70s bottling of JW green label that I found lying on its side 10 years ago.
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Quaich1
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 10:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

TheWM wrote:
Only happened to me once Murray - a 70s bottling of JW green label that I found lying on its side 10 years ago.


Hi Viz. My bottle was always stored straight up the right way and the cork showed no rot at all. Just came apart as I twisted the cork open. The whisky by the way was great.
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"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
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James T
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is unusual for a cork to break up these days as they have vastly improved from years gone by, so it is odd for this to happen to a recent bottling. Murray perhaps the seller had stored it on its side for a prolonged period. You should drop Glencadam a line to say you were disappointed this has happened.
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Quaich1
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

James T wrote:
It is unusual for a cork to break up these days as they have vastly improved from years gone by, so it is odd for this to happen to a recent bottling. Murray perhaps the seller had stored it on its side for a prolonged period. You should drop Glencadam a line to say you were disappointed this has happened.


Sounds like a good idea James. Cheers.
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Alexppp
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've never had this happen with a full size bottle, but have had it with a couple of 200ml bottles - a Caol Ila and a Talisker. The Talisker survived but the Caol Ila had disintegrated badly. I suspect the smaller corks used for these would have been considerably more brittle than the ones for full size bottles.
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AB53Coo
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 8:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A positive story on cork breakage.

I bought the flora and fauna mortlach, on arrival noticed the cap of the cork was sitting funny and it appears to have snapped in transit. The seller refused to refund it. So i opened anyway and drank it anyway.
Its one of my favourite whiskys I've drank.
Having bought another one to keep I'm glad I've tried it
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Dave h
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 12:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Laphroaig Quarter Cask cork split on me about 10 years ago. Similarly used a corkscrew but the damn thing crumbled into the bottle as was saturated, quite tricky trying to save it. Never happened since but from that point started collecting random corks just incase. But feel I'd more likely decant into an empty bottle as have a few opened nearing the end.
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TheMaster
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've had a few corks break before now, usually from Independent Bottlers mind you. Although saying that, my worse cork breakage was from a bottle of Glenfarclas 15, go figure - snapped off 1/3rd the way down from the stopper leaving the remaining 2/3rds in the neck.

Corkscrew and tea strainer sorted it out.

One of the reasons I keep a bunch of spare corks of various size (especially those plastic ones!!)
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sorren
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 7:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Murray..
It’s actually becoming a problem at the moment with several sources of cork stoppers failing... Several companies I’ve spoken to recently have had to change suppliers.. It is certainly a pain in the * when it happens..
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Quaich1
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 8:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sorren wrote:
Hi Murray..
It’s actually becoming a problem at the moment with several sources of cork stoppers failing... Several companies I’ve spoken to recently have had to change suppliers.. It is certainly a pain in the * when it happens..


That's interesting to know Sorren. Cheers.
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