Guilty Pleasure: the cork

[Danger]

I love my nightcaps and look forward to them. The squeaking sound of the cork squeezing out of the bottle and the eminently satisfying pop makes me smile. So, when I kill a bottle I save the cork in an old cloth Blanton's bag and when I buy a new bottle that has a screw top I throw away calloused plastic lid and plug it with a suitably sized cork from the stockpile so I can reproduce the miniature squeaking symphony each night. Am I the only one who does this?

[savagehenry]

I read a study by Freud that reminds me of this.

[Lazer]

Yes, you are the only one.

[Restaurant man]

I throw away the corks. I love the sound of a screw cap in the morning.

[Danger]

I read a study by Freud that reminds me of this.

[TheNovaMan]

It's a wonderful sound, indeed! I hadn't thought about recycling used corks in bottles that didn't originally come with corks. Hmm...

[HighInTheMtns]

I hate corks. They're an antiquated, inferior method of sealing a bottle. They fall apart sometimes. They leave little cork bits on the lip of the bottle sometimes. They dissolve when foolish liquor store owners (or dudes with really old bottles of rye) store bottles on their sides. They dry up and stop sealing well. I save my old corks too, so that I can replace them when I get a faulty one.

Screw tops are the best, but I can understand the romance in pulling a cork and so I propose that synthetic corks are a very good compromise.

[TheNovaMan]

I knew you'd come in here and bash corks.

[MauiSon]

I can't understand cork-preference. They leak, they rot, they break. What's more, most corked bottles dribble. I'll grant they squeak and pop, but 'silence is golden'. I never want to hear,'You're having another?'

[RocknRoll]

I'll grant they squeak and pop, but 'silence is golden'. I never want to hear,'You're having another?'

[deathevocation]

I can't understand cork-preference. They leak, they rot, they break. What's more, most corked bottles dribble. I'll grant they squeak and pop, but 'silence is golden'. I never want to hear,'You're having another?'

[Flyfish]

I love my nightcaps and look forward to them. The squeaking sound of the cork squeezing out of the bottle and the eminently satisfying pop makes me smile. So, when I kill a bottle I save the cork in an old cloth Blanton's bag and when I buy a new bottle that has a screw top I throw away calloused plastic lid and plug it with a suitably sized cork from the stockpile so I can reproduce the miniature squeaking symphony each night. Am I the only one who does this?

Aha! So that's what Blanton's bags are good for. And, of course, the Blanton's corks are to be displayed on a barrel stave. Now, what to do with those lovely bottles? Decanters for Early Times perhaps?

[HighInTheMtns]

I knew you'd come in here and bash corks.

Can't resist a good opportunity to bash corks.

[portwood]

I hate corks. They're an antiquated, inferior method of sealing a bottle. They fall apart sometimes. They leave little cork bits on the lip of the bottle sometimes. They dissolve when foolish liquor store owners (or dudes with really old bottles of rye) store bottles on their sides. They dry up and stop sealing well. I save my old corks too, so that I can replace them when I get a faulty one.

Screw tops are the best...

Agree 100% with this.

[PaulO]

I save the corks from whiskey bottles to use as stoppers for open wine bottles. A wine cork can be hard to re-use after the corkscrew. It's also nice to have an inventory of stoppers in case one comes apart like some Rare Breed stoppers have. I think some brands use the cork to symbolize that they are marketing something as a more high end brand.

[Danger]

I hate corks. They're an antiquated, inferior method of sealing a bottle... Screw tops are the best, but I can understand the romance in pulling a cork and so I propose that synthetic corks are a very good compromise.

I accept your compromise, as long as it squeaks. My bottle of Temperance Trader came with a synthetic cork and I quite liked it.

I can't understand cork-preference. They leak, they rot, they break. What's more, most corked bottles dribble. I'll grant they squeak and pop, but 'silence is golden'. I never want to hear,'You're having another?'

That's like saying, "I don't get wall art, its so much more expensive than wallpaper and doesn't even cover the same amount of space." The cork is for the aesthetics, not the functionality. And I think the solution to being stealthy is to start with a double

[Wee Robbie]

I save my old corks too. But I just keep them to replace corks that give me problems. Some are prone to breaking.

[p_elliott]

I also have a bag of corks and do like corks best. I know they get old and fall apart but there is just nothing better than opening a new bottle and hearing thump. Screw tops do leak as well I had a bottle of Wellers SR I put in my luggage and it leaked all over the place.

[MyOldKyDram]

I too have had screwcaps leak, so just give me the good ole squeak and thump.

[Kalessin]

"What weasel stole the cork from my lunch?"

-- W.C. Fields

Sure, cork is impractical. I don't care, I prefer them. I haven't had a cork failure or leakage on any of my whiskey bottles that are younger than about 30 years old (the bottle, not the whiskey...)

[WAINWRIGHT]

I would have to agree with a corked bottle is preferred in my case more traditional and I enjoy the look,feel and sound better.I don't really mind a lot of the newer synthetic corks,but it still is just not the same.

[TheNovaMan]

I don't really mind a lot of the newer synthetic corks,but it still is just not the same.

Amen.

This sentence here makes the reply more than 16 characters.

[JB64]

I too like corked bottles better. I just love the sound of the cork being extracted from the bottle even though it is usually followed by the "are you having another drink" from my better half.

[squire]

I've got a box of corks which I hang onto in the event I ever need one but that is unlikely.

[Flyfish]

Had a pour of KCSB this afternoon. OK, more than one pour. Followed by regular KC. Noticed that the pricier single barrel has a screw cap whereas the regular has an artificial cork.

On one of the distillery tours, BT I think, the guide said that cork or screw cap was entirely a marketing issue. Consumers associate cork with quality. So, bottom shelf bourbons come in handles with screw tops and upper shelf bourbons come with corks.

A few years ago, wine went through the transition. Screw-top wine used to mean crap. Now it's not so much an issue. Even though I like the good solid thunk of a cork coming out of my bourbon bottles, I expect that before long the screw cap will be widely accepted.