The best Decanter Stopper

[JeffRenner]

Note re decanters: if you're going to use it for spirits, make sure the decanter is glass and not lead crystal. The high concentration of alcohol in spirits leaches the lead out of crystal.

A couple of thoughts here - I think it is the acidity of beverages that leach the lead from crystal, not the alcohol. I don't know what the acidity of bourbon is compared to, say, wine. There certainly are organic acids. somePerhaps chemistry professor Tim can adddress this.

If you don't store whiskey in leaded crystal, but just decant for serving, it shouldn't be a problem, according to the sources I've read for years, and which can be Googled.

Jeff

[chasking]

If you don't store whiskey in leaded crystal, but just decant for serving, it shouldn't be a problem, according to the sources I've read for years, and which can be Googled.

No doubt true. I was thinking of the image of the decanter of whiskey and nice glasses sitting out all the time on a little table in the living room, a more or less permanent fixture of all the best homes in the old days, if 60s TV is to be believed.

[JeffRenner]

Many reasons you may occasionally use a decanter. If you buy any older ceramic decanters, its much more attractive to pour from a nice crystal/glass decanter than that "Ma and Paw Kettle" decanter.....and you get to see the color (age?) too. ... I also, on accasion, buy a 1.75 and prefer to put it into a smaller container on my display bar than have it stand out from the crowd.

I agree, Randy. I enjoyed seeing that attractive decanter in your post on the one gallon Canadian Club bottle.

As I have mentioned before, I have accumulated a fair collection of antique post-pro decanters. The kind I collect are all glass from the 30's and 40's with the name of the spirit either molded into the decanter or incised. I don't care as much for the ones with a "dogtag," and definitely don't like the ceramic ones from the 50's on of hobos, hilbillies, etc.

These decanters easiest to find for rye and scotch. This is because these were the two whiskies that households that would have decanters would keep during this period. Less common was gin, and, outside of the south, bourbon even less so. Vodka, of course, came after this period.

Below is a complete (as far as I know) set of one of the most common patterns. The rye and scotch are on eBay almost any time. They often can be had for $10/set. The gin is much less common, and the bourbon was a real find.

I don't know the pattern or manufacturer, but for some reason I think they might have been made by Cambridge.

I buy 1 or 1.75 liters of spirits to fill these, and keep them on the side shelf, both as display and because they are handy. These are my standard, or generic, pours. That is not to say that they are "well" pours. In some ways, they are my favorites, at least except for special pours. Of course, more often than not, I pour one of those special pours, but the ones in the decanters are probably the ones I pour more than other brands.

They presently contain Jim Beam rye, Teacher's or Grant's scotch (whichever I get a good deal on), Old Forrester 100 proof, and Seagram's (I think) gin. The gin is mostly for G&Ts. For a martini, I prefer Tanqueray Ten or Anchor's Junipero.

I'll have to take some photos of my other sets and post them.

Jeff

[AVB]

If you plan to leave your whisk(e)y in a lead crystal decanter you should use it within the first 25 years or so. You get more lead in your system from breathing then will leach out of crystal in any normal use.

[doubleblank]

That's one of my faves Jeff.......given to me as a gift over 20 years ago. The whiskey in it is from a Michter's decanter in the shape of Penn. My decanter is much more attractive than that. The whiskey is pretty good too. From around 1976.....probably four to six years old.

Randy

[BassCat1]

Jeff - Those are really nice decanters. Show us a few more from your collection. I just started my collection of decanters with some Evan Williams and Heaven Hill stuff. I have filled them with EW 10yrs. old. For the money, a good pour from an attractive decanter is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also seems more pleasing to the pallet.