On Sat, 17 Nov 2007, pltrgyst wondrously revealed:
}On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 03:33:20 GMT, nick wrote: } }>If I lay the bottle down, I would think that the liquid }>(WHISKY!) inside will keep the cork wet and therefore }>expanded, sealing the bottle against the evil air. }>
}>Whereas if I stand the bottle up, the cork will dry out }>letting evil air into the bottle. }>
}>And why is this not so??? } }It is so, AFAIK. Corks need to stay moist or the will dry out and allow more }gas/fluid transfer.The counterpoint is that not all whisky has corks. For }example, G&M Connoisseur's Choice bottlings have had screw tops since at least }1983. The early screw tops didn't seem completely reliable to me; I used to add }Saran Wrap inside the tops to insure a tight seal. Even so, I would have been }leery of laying them down. } }-- Larry }
Hmm... this almost has the flavor of an urban legend to me.
I could see making a case for not keeping the whisky in constant contact with a multi-piece cork -- disolving glue and all that -- but...
Many wine racks I've seen do not keep the bottles fully horizontal, but inclined at a slight angle so that the cork is /not/ in constant contact with the bottle's content. Why not one of these for scotch?
And... it strikes me that if a bottler is bottling scotch with a glued cork, they would make some effort to use a glue that is not soluble in scotch. No?
That said, I keep my malts upright so I can see the labels without having to pull each bottle off the shelf to find what I'm looking for.
Dr H