Synthetic cork sideways storage?

[silverfish]

Just curious - is there a consensus (or any opinions) on storing
Bourbon bottles with synthetic corks flat on the side (as opposed
to standing upright)? Would/do fake corks taint the contents?

[callmeox]

I store everything upright regardless of closure type.

What's leading you to ask the question?

I would worry about leaching of something/anything from the synthetic cork material.

[silverfish]

I store everything upright regardless of closure type.

What's leading you to ask the question?

Just that I have a wood wine rack (with empty spots) holding
some screw caps and limited "stand up" space for open bottles
and was hoping that maybe some faux cork bottles might be
ok to store on their side.

[cigarnv]

John, I suspect it would be fine....

[smokinjoe]

Unlike with wine bottles, I've been less than thrilled by the sealing properties of synthetic cork on liquor bottles. The fit doesn't seem to be all that snug on many. So, I would be concerned with leakage...

[cowdery]

There is certainly no benefit to storing whiskey on its side and plenty of potential downside from leakage to leaching. No reason to think synthetic cork will stand up to high proof alcohol any better than the natural stuff does. Storing whiskey on its side is a bad idea, period.

[CorvallisCracker]

Storing whiskey on its side is a bad idea, period.

Indeed. Even for short periods. You want to make sure there's still some in the bottle in the morning.

Right:




Wrong:

[Brisko]

Clearly, the fellow in the second photo is attempting to speed up the "breathing" process by increasing the surface area.

[bgageus]

I was told a while back while on a tour somewhere, so its got a coin flips chance of being true. That synthetic corks may react with high alcohol products after a period of time. Wines are made to be stored and aged, so the corks were designed to hold up to a low alcohol contact. Alcohol is not made to be aged in the bottle so they were not designed for long contact with the spirit.

[Bourbon Boiler]

The risks might be low, but as Chuck said, there are no benefits and any risk would be too much for me.