Sorry if this topic has been discussed somewhere before, anyway I can’t find anything about it.
I have some bottles that I do not expect to open for a few years. I know there is a hot debate about whether it makes sense to rotate bottles once or twice a year for about an hour or two to keep the corkn moist.
I have already read posts on whiskey forums about this and I find both the pro-arguments (cork does not dry out so quickly and does not become crumbly, higher tightness), as well as the con-arguments (cork is attacked by the alcohol and crumbles all the more, at the latest when opening) plausible.
What are your opinions and experiences? Does it make sense or is it unnecessary? Is it perhaps even harmful?
I rotate the bottles one every three months, for only few seconds. So far I noticed no problem with any bottle treated this way. And I’ve had several problems with never-rotated bottles in the past. I’m these cases the corks were obviously dry and crushed. But you know, it’s not scientific, just a random story from me.
I rotate them for a few minutes about every now and then, but I think it takes years for the cork to dry and crumble. Plasticky corks like the ones in FS ECS bottles are no deal to this crumlbing and drying thing I guess.
I have no special insight from the perspective of spirits but a lot of experience with wine. Here are a few thoughts:
Corks absolutely can and will dry out and not all corks are created equally.
For wine, bottles that will sit for ageing are always left on their side, part of which is to help the cork keep from drying. I also keep them in a full sized wine cabinet that is kept at stable temperature.
despite this, I have had a decent amount of corked wine bottles over the years (small percentage but does happen). Many of these were not that old but just had defective corks
other factors to consider: the humidity and heat of the room/area where they will be stored. If storing for the long term then you must be mindful that there is humidity in the air otherwise a cork will be more likely to dry out. Make sure it is not in a cabinet that retains heat.
As mentioned above, more and more bottlers (even of wine) have moved to synthetic cork alternatives. These will not dry out and will also won’t allow the tiny trickle of air into the bottle that a regular cork will (barring defect).
I think that under 3 years since bottling you would rarely have to worry unless it’s exposed to high temps and a very dry surrounding. Failing in this time is almost surely a defect and out of your control.
In the range of 4-7 years since bottling I have definitely seen more corks fail. While some could be chalked up to defects, the others were bottles that had been acquired but likely not stored on their side at some point. Some risk exists in this range.
8+ years, I would fully suggest taking steps to keep the cork from drying out.
I bought a bottle at a store this year that had sat on the shelf for about 15-20 years, upright.
There was no visible loss and when I opened it the first 2-3 times it was fine.
The 4th time I opened it, cork broke in half and I had to perform surgical like work to extract it without dropping cork sediment into the bottle. Not fun!
Hatte auch eine Nobilis bei der deutlich Rum während des Transport ausgelaufen ist. Das nervt. Vor allem wenn sie soviel Geld in Verpackung stecken. Dann lieber gute Korken nutzen.
Der Füllstand war deutlich zu niedrig und der Korken komplett kaputt. Konnte alles gut reinigen, umfüllen und der Rum war ok. Aber zum Sammeln ist das natürlich nichts. Die Zweite war zum Glück ok. Aber bin jedes Mal hart nervös wenn ein Nobilis unterwegs ist.
Coming back to the point of the OP, in Whisky/Bourbon circles (at least as far as I know) there’s no real consensus.
The Pro (A) argument for keeping the cork moist with turning the bottle upside/down i.e. rotating it, is mostly based on the theory that the liquid moistens the cork, thus keeping the seal tight. But this argument is mostly coming from the wine world, where the ABV is on avarage 5-25% (meaning there’s 75-95% water inside the bottle).
The Con (B) argument against that practice, says that with the higher ABV (40-50%, meaning 50-60% water) spirits pose more danger to the cork than protect it. The alcohol making the cork more brittle. And this argument rings more true for our beloved cask strengths, where the water percentage is even lower.
While both sides appear to have merit, personally I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and I don’t think anybody can say for certain that there’s a cutoff point where e.g. everything below 40% is fine, and everything above is bad for the cork.
But I would think that the closer the ABV (and correspondingly the water percentage) comes to wine, the more argument A should be true, and higher up in 55-75% ABV territory, I would lean more towards argument B.
I just don’t understand why they still use cork. There is no need for the risk. Just because of haptic and the Illusionen of a high quality product!? Nobody can change the old bottles but they could change what they use with the new ones. I think glas cork is also high quality. Like RomDeluxe. Or just some plastic.
And i think that turning the bottle every couple of weeks doesn’t change much. Because the rum is not getting between the cork and the glas of the bottle. If it does… it is leaking
If you want to see what a wet cork looks like… you can see it on my pictures. The cork was completly wet. So nothing you want for your rum bottle.
Der Korken sieht aus als wäre er nicht ganz dicht und die Flasche lag länger auf der Seite/stand auf dem Kopf. Der Holz-Teil oben ist ja komplett durchnässt.
Ob drehen oder nicht, hängt auch stark von der Art vom Korken ab.
Kunststoff: sinnlos, aber auch nicht schädlich
Bröselkork: potentiell schädlich
Naturkork: potentiell förderlich
Die kriegen das mit den Korken besser hin… (und den fand ich zudem sogar noch etwas besser)
