Why Me!!!!!!

[lakegz]

hey guys, i went to visit my girlfriend in NY and as a welcome, she had gone to lenell's shop to buy me a pappy 15. I was so delighted to open it up but as soon as i opened it, the cork came undone from the cap so there was no way to reseal it. I had to put it in a tupperware water bottle and funnel it back in today but i still had no cork so i had to borrow the cork from my almost finished Evan Williams 93, only because it was the closest fit. now the EWSB has the seran wrap over it to seal it.

as for the cork, it only feels tight on the bottle when its raised half an inch from being completely closed. I washed the cork out for a minute, but im wondering how much this would play with the aromas and contents of the Pappy. also, the fit, although self suporting, doesnt seem too tight, how tight should a cork fit to fully seal in the bourbon? any place to get a new cork? any recommendations? why did this have to happen to my very first Pappy??

[gr8erdane]

Do you have a Bed Bath and Beyond or some such store near you? I picked up a set of corks there that have the tops shaped like card suits that function as bottle openers. One is gracing my KC bottle right now. I save all the corks from finished bottles for just that reason. I also seem to remember that BB&B had a small bag of bottle corks but not sure if they were the right size so I went for the fancy ones. Plus most wine shops have those fancy ceramic or pewter character corks for sometimes reasonable prices. They do in a pinch.

[lakegz]

thanks for the tips, ill go to BB&B tomorrow. as for saving the caps, im still on my first batch of every bottle i own so I will definitely do that when i decide to kill my first bottle.

[musher]

I have a little box where I save all my corks. It takes up less space than saving bottles as souvenirs (not that I really want to anyway), and it gives me a visual cue of the number of bourbons that I've had. The side benefit is that it makes for a nice assortment of replacement corks, especially in those old-find bottles where the corks are going bad.

[Ken Weber]

Send me your address and I will send you a new cork. Sometimes the corks just separate from the top; sorry about that.

Ken

[doc_mcCabe]

I've also been having a rash of corkage problems: First the wooden top of my Elijah 18 became separated from the cork, thus making it hard to remove. Then my Rock Hill Farm cork began giving me problems and to add insult to injury, my buddy sent me some Jeff Reserve 15 and the cork was completely fubar. I swear this isn't a case of "operator error--" some of these corks are simply crap. But the idea of saving old corks is brilliant and I will have to do this. But first I'll have to drain some of the supply. Cheers!

[sharkman]

The exact same thing happened to my Elijah 18yr. However, I think the whiskey is crap, so I don't drink it anyway. I just decanted it and wrote the barrel info on a postit and stuck it to the bottle. So don't feel like the only one...

[lakegz]

i just got 4 corks in the mail today, thank you very much Ken, i really appreciate it!

[brendaj]

Margus said:

I've also been having a rash of corkage problems: First the wooden top of my Elijah 18 became separated from the cork

and sharkman said...

The exact same thing happened to my Elijah 18yr.

Yepper, same here. I was given a bottle of EC 18yr. for my birthday. First time I pulled the top, the cork stayed in the bottle...

On the other hand, hats off to Ken for seeing a problem and stepping up to do what he can. Very cool.

Bj

[musher]

Whenever I open up a new bottle, I always carefully wiggle and twist the cork to make sure it isn't stuck to the bottle. It doesn't always work, but I bet I've saved myself some trouble by doing this.

[bucky1]

We had a few cork issues at the Gazebo last night...my Wild Turkey 12YO cork just disintergrated and Julian's bottle had a problem. Was anyone surprised when Dane pulled out a strainer for just these types of emergencies? And, Tim had a spare stopper for me so I could preserve what was left of the bottle. Thanks Dane & Tim (Tim, I'll bring your stopper to the Festival)!

Jon

[gr8erdane]

Well, to be quite honest, the reason I had the strainer funnel was for the Rip Van Winkle Decanter I brought as I pretty much figured that the cork would be a problem after almost thirty years. My other old decanters corks pretty much were mush when I tried opening them. I would never have thought of bringing it otherwise but will include it in my bourbon "toolkit" for the all future Gazebo gatherings.

[hookfinger]

Just a thought but wine corks don't tend to disingrate so fast because they stay moist from being stored on their sides (I assume.) I have some small 1/2 pint bottles with small amounts of older expressions and after drying out several corks, I started storing these on their sides and while carefully monitoring the situation for leaks (none so far) it seems to be working out. I know storing your entire whiskey collection on it's side is unreasonable, not to mention unsightly, it might be a viable answer for the older bottles. As far as the newer cork disingrating,I've done what several others have and saved a handful of different corks just for this reason.

[gr8erdane]

I do something that Bobby taught me while at his home a year ago. Ever so often I pick up each bottle and turn it on its side for a second or two allowing the cork to be just wettened a bit. Not sure it will make much of a difference but I don't think it'll hurt.

[camduncan]

I do something that Bobby taught me while at his home a year ago. Ever so often I pick up each bottle and turn it on its side for a second or two allowing the cork to be just wettened a bit. Not sure it will make much of a difference but I don't think it'll hurt.

Funny you mention that. I don't know whether it was because I'd read this thread or not, but I went through all of my bottles Sunday night and did exactly that.

I did add an extra step however - I opened each bottle to check the cork. And of course, that gave me to the perfect opportunity to smell the beautiful aromas that each bottle had to offer

[hookfinger]

Great idea, Cam. But I think I would have to do that on a Saturday night, or at least a night when I've got nothing to do in the AM. All those open bottles would likely lead to more than just nosing.

[bluesbassdad]

I have to confess that I was unable to muster much sympathy in response to the various "bad cork" stories -- until it happened to me.

Today at mid-afternoon I decided to treat myself to a splash from a top shelf bottling. I reached way to the back and came up with my half-full bottle of VWFR 18 y/o, (here's the New York connection, tenuous as it is) the special bottling for Park Avenue Liquor Shop. As I grasped the cork to prepare to twist, the top part immediately separated from the cork proper.

Fortunately, the cork itself was perfectly intact and in good condition. By applying thumb pressure to each side alternately, Champagne cork fashion, I was able to work it out to the point where I could grasp it. The rest was easy.

After I poured my half ounce (the fact that this is a one-off bottling at a one-off price reinforced my resolve to have but a small taste), I was able to reinsert the cork far enough to get a good seal and still leave room to grip the cork next time.

I have my eye on the adjacent, one-third full bottle of VW 12 y/o. Perhaps I will finish it in time to do a cork transplant.

So anyway, I apologize to one and all for suspecting that only some form of cork abuse could result in the problems you desribed. Likewise to those of you who collect spare corks for emergencies. I will now join you in that practice.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[lakegz]

yeah no big deal till youre in an unforseen situation. I was in NY where i recieved the bottle as a gift and had to fly back to san diego with my Pappy in a plastic water bottle and store it at home with seran wrap till Ken came to my rescue, God bless his soul.