Possible Bad Cork?

[jdavis54]

Hi all, I think a bottle of Blanton's I recently purchased may have a bad cork. When I first opened the bottle and took a whiff all I really noticed was a fairly musty smell. It didn't really smell like any other bourbon I'd ever had. I smelled the cork and it had the same musty smell to it also. I wiped down the mouth of the bottle and let it breathe for about 30 minutes, after which there was no more mustiness. The cork, however, still smelled musty after being left to air out for the same time. I've since moved the bourbon to an old vodka bottle I had on hand.

Over the last few days as the cork dried the mustiness became less noticeable, but it's still there, sort of as a musty woody type odor. I was wondering if this is indeed a bad cork? I've tried contacting Blanton's directly but their "contact us" page doesn't work. Would anyone happen to have an e-mail address for them? I guess if all else fails I can just mail the cork to them and hope they'll replace it. Thanks for all the help and I look forward to learning a lot more about bourbon here.

Jordan

[polyamnesia]

hello jordan

and welcome!

i've had the same concern...so have others!

here's a couple of threads i found just now:

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8012&highlight=cork+filter (actually, i asked the same question here!)

and

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7019&highlight=mustiness+cork

cheers! lots of info here!

andy:)

[jdavis54]

Ah...the search feature. I need to be more vigilant in my future searches. I only tried "bad cork" and didn't come up with what I was looking for after 20-30 minutes of looking. Thanks for the help. That second link had the info I was after. I'm still not sure whether the cork is actually suffering from cork rot though, or if it's just the Buffalo Trace "earthiness" that was referred to. I assume that applies to all brands bottled at BT's distillery?

The bourbon doesn't seem to have picked up any of the earthiness, so I think I'll keep it in the old vodka bottle just to be safe. I'll probably pick up another bottle of Blanton's sometime down the road and I'll compare corks then. Thanks again for the help, Andy.

Jordan

[jdavis54]

I e-mailed the BT disillery directly and they got back to me quickly and agreed to send me a new cork. Great customer service! I'm going to send the funky one back to them for inspection, though the person I spoke to through e-mail said based on my description it was probably a tainted cork. Ya gotta feel good about a company that stands behind the products they sell and fixes it when something isn't right.

Jordan

[NickAtMartinis]

I e-mailed the BT disillery directly and they got back to me quickly and agreed to send me a new cork. Great customer service! I'm going to send the funky one back to them for inspection, though the person I spoke to through e-mail said based on my description it was probably a tainted cork. Ya gotta feel good about a company that stands behind the products they sell and fixes it when something isn't right.

Jordan

Sure 'nuff!

[polyamnesia]

Ah...the search feature. I need to be more vigilant in my future searches. I only tried "bad cork" and didn't come up with what I was looking for after 20-30 minutes of looking. Thanks for the help. That second link had the info I was after. I'm still not sure whether the cork is actually suffering from cork rot though, or if it's just the Buffalo Trace "earthiness" that was referred to. I assume that applies to all brands bottled at BT's distillery?

The bourbon doesn't seem to have picked up any of the earthiness, so I think I'll keep it in the old vodka bottle just to be safe. I'll probably pick up another bottle of Blanton's sometime down the road and I'll compare corks then. Thanks again for the help, Andy.

Jordan

no problem , jordan!

plenty here have already helped me immeasuarbly in my short time here!

and good to hear about Blanton's....and whenever i get a bottle...and if the cork is bad...i won't worry about it! sounds like a true stand-up company.