mitchshrader
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2006
- Messages
- 146
Anybody following me around has heard me cuss at Glenfarclas 105, the only kind of Glenfarclas I tried, and i tried it twice.
It bothered me cause it had a metallic aftertaste, a varnishy, linseed oily, palate, like licking a turpentined paintbrush or something..
now, that may not be Glenfarclas' fault. I had an oddity, BOTH bottles, (the first & it's replacement) had the corks break, disintegrate, on first attempt to remove em. The first time my fave liquour store guy insisted on replacing it, I guess they don't want to get sued for botulism or something.. but the second time I said heck with it and just poured it into a decanter.
Now, after the fact, I find out that 'some corks' are made of compressed bits of cork.. (like those).. and SOME of those compressed corks have nasty tasting contaminants..
so. I may well have a distorted and unfair view of Glenfarclas, and it be the dirty cork thats to blame. This apparently is more than common with vintage wines these days, and can be mostly traced to overly-intensive cork harvesting, that gets too close to the ground.
IF you run into a very disappointing, not at all up to expectations, wine or spirit, and it's corked.. give it a hard look. Is it crumbly? Does it look 'made' from semisquished bits? If it's a lousy cork, very Likely it's made of low-bid leftovers.. and you can guess as well as I whether those are the most likely ones to leave foul tastes.. :whistling:
Now, no offense to the distillers or vitners, but cork quality IS a variable, and it DOES affect customer satisfaction, and like it or not, it's their job to get it right. OR, as dissatisfied customers, we don't buy their products, we tell our friends, we curse them with fiendish venom and cackling glee. oh wait, i mean, don't do THAT..
never mind.
So. Storing a quantity of any bottled/corked beverage needs to be done with full appreciation of cork quality. Transfer of air through screw caps, OR corks, still occurs. Whisky and wine can oxidise from 'leaked' oxygen, given enough years.
One way to help mitigate this, is... Saran Wrap. If you can stand it, a couple layers will cut oxygen flow by 90%..
Another way, much classier, is to dip the neck/cork in melted wax.. and this works VERY well.
The whole thing is, you dare not have a BAD cork, or all bets are off. This means you *MUST* sample and test before storing large quantities of corked entertainment.
It bothered me cause it had a metallic aftertaste, a varnishy, linseed oily, palate, like licking a turpentined paintbrush or something..
now, that may not be Glenfarclas' fault. I had an oddity, BOTH bottles, (the first & it's replacement) had the corks break, disintegrate, on first attempt to remove em. The first time my fave liquour store guy insisted on replacing it, I guess they don't want to get sued for botulism or something.. but the second time I said heck with it and just poured it into a decanter.
Now, after the fact, I find out that 'some corks' are made of compressed bits of cork.. (like those).. and SOME of those compressed corks have nasty tasting contaminants..
so. I may well have a distorted and unfair view of Glenfarclas, and it be the dirty cork thats to blame. This apparently is more than common with vintage wines these days, and can be mostly traced to overly-intensive cork harvesting, that gets too close to the ground.
IF you run into a very disappointing, not at all up to expectations, wine or spirit, and it's corked.. give it a hard look. Is it crumbly? Does it look 'made' from semisquished bits? If it's a lousy cork, very Likely it's made of low-bid leftovers.. and you can guess as well as I whether those are the most likely ones to leave foul tastes.. :whistling:
Now, no offense to the distillers or vitners, but cork quality IS a variable, and it DOES affect customer satisfaction, and like it or not, it's their job to get it right. OR, as dissatisfied customers, we don't buy their products, we tell our friends, we curse them with fiendish venom and cackling glee. oh wait, i mean, don't do THAT..
never mind. So. Storing a quantity of any bottled/corked beverage needs to be done with full appreciation of cork quality. Transfer of air through screw caps, OR corks, still occurs. Whisky and wine can oxidise from 'leaked' oxygen, given enough years.
One way to help mitigate this, is... Saran Wrap. If you can stand it, a couple layers will cut oxygen flow by 90%..
Another way, much classier, is to dip the neck/cork in melted wax.. and this works VERY well.
The whole thing is, you dare not have a BAD cork, or all bets are off. This means you *MUST* sample and test before storing large quantities of corked entertainment.
