Whisky Forum - Corks that break off into single malt bottles

Quaich1

Another thread about a cork flaw with a bottle of Nadurra reminded me of a friend of mine with a huge collection of single malts. He showed me some bottles of Glenmorangie The Original where a large chunk of the cork broke off into the scotch itself over time. His other brands showed no such pattern of cork deterioration. That raises the question whether certain brands are more prone to cork damage over time. I have no other empirical evidence but I raise the point for discussion.
_________________
"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

Grant M · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:28 pm Post subject:

I think older corks are more prone to break up as corks were not of the same quality that they are today. Personally i havent experienced any problem with corks breaking up.

William · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:03 pm Post subject:

I have had a few corks break up over the years but i cant say it was from any single brand i put it down to the way they had been stored before i got them.
_________________
There's no bad whisky. Just good whisky and better whisky.

James T · Master Of Malts Joined: 05 Feb 2011 Posts: 2792

Picked up 2 bottles of the Balvenie 15 Single Barrel at Prestwick airport a couple of years ago and the corks in both bottles crumbled when i opened them and both were saturated with whisky so they had obviously been stored on there side for some time. I decanted them into other bottles and they were fine, luckily. I thought about contacting the Balvenie or the airport to complain but didnt in the end as i thought i wouldnt get much joy.

bifter · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:53 am Post subject:

Unfortunately my bottle of Nadurra Triumph kicked this thread off, awaiting a reply from TWE. The only other time I can recall a cork breaking was a bottle of Glenfarclas 15. However the cork split about half way and was bone dry inside so I guess it was just a flaw in the material rather than a result of it being stored on its side.
_________________
"Whisky is liquid sunshine."
[George Bernard Shaw]

5-12-1908 · Master Of Malts Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 307

Will whisky go down the same loine as wine and use screw tops?

Is there a real need for a cork?

Alexppp · Master Of Malts Joined: 16 Jul 2010 Posts: 1791

Drover · Triple Malt Member Joined: 06 Jul 2009 Posts: 244

With the quality of screwcaps these days they could easily replace the corks i would think but i also think many people will associate a cork with the quality of the whisky so i doubt the producers would move away from using them. Happily corks breaking are a rare occurence.

Mark · Master Of Malts Joined: 27 Sep 2006 Posts: 1615

I wonder how long a whisky bottle has to lie on its side to do damage to the cork. I often see bottles lying on there side in supermarkets, when the shelves are full supermarkets often start piling the bottle on top of the upright bottles. I know the supermarkets will have a big turnover and they probably wont be lying there like this for long but i have always wondered how long a bottle has to lie on its side to do damage - 1 week, 1 month, 6 months or more.

Kava · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:51 pm Post subject:

I would guess it is much more than a week as bottles i have ordered online can spend up to a week lying on its side while in transit with no adverse effect to the cork. I suppose the abv of the whisky will make a difference also.

Alexppp · Master Of Malts Joined: 16 Jul 2010 Posts: 1791

I think most of the time bottles will be ok even if they're on their sides for a couple of months - I once had a package (Laphroaig) delivered to my parents' address, then forgot about it for around two months. When I finally got around to opening it I saw the package had been stored on its side all the time, but the bottle was ok. No real trace of the cork affecting the taste of the whisky either. I can't judge for all cases obviously (especially in higher ABV) but from that particular case I would infer that corks are good enough to be able to take some time on their sides.

Genuine Risk · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 7:14 pm Post subject:

Quaich1 · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:44 pm Post subject:

On a lighter side, I came across a neat youtube video about how to get a whole cork out of an empty bottle. It's quite ingenious and I got a kick out of it. Have a peek.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL1ovAYtKuQ

Very Happy

_________________
"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

Keith · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:02 pm Post subject:

I do think a bottle would have to lie on its side for at least a few months to seriously affect the cork but the glues and resins used in the corks could possibly affect the whisky without any sign of damage to the cork so I simply wouldn't risk buying any bottles which have been stored on its side no matter how short a time they have lay this way.

Genuine Risk · Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 9:48 pm Post subject:

Thinking about retracting that last msg just opened a Highland Park 16 bourbon bottled 2006, the bottle gave a lot louder than normal pop when opened and lots of fizz when poured. The bottom 15% of the cork was a wet mess and looked like falling off.

Not sure how much of its life was on its side, probably most of it.

Weird thing is was expecting it to be crap but to be honest its a bit special, on my third dram just to make sure all the same
_________________
Putting the func in dysfunctional.