Miniatures and screw caps

Gunnar, I don't know about the whisky situation (screw top vs. cork) but in the wine industry they estimate that the cork tops cause a 10% loss of the wine due to leakage. They since have tried the artificial corks and that made the situation better but not by much. As I now understand it many of the high end wineries are going to screw tops. They have found that with screw tops the spoilage goes down to less than 1%. A big change, especially to the bottom line profits. The main issue everyone is having, however, is marketing the change. Many snobby wine drinkers feel that twist top caps place that bottle of wine in a "cheap wine" category. Obviously the wine industry doesn't want that image for their high end wines. All this is simply to say that I would guess that if all things are equal a twist off cap on a whisky bottle is probably better than a cork top. As a result the change in taste, if there is one, probably shouldn't be caused by the capping method.

Things are a bit different when it comes to wine, though. One thing is that the ABV is much lower, so the contents will not have that much capasity to function as a solvent. In this line of thought, with whisky bottles it's the cardboard piece that worries me the most, but I'm not quite certain about the tin either. It's not the capping method as such, but the materials used. Still, I've heard about cases with bad cork with whisky, even though I believe it to be very rare and I haven't encountered any myself. A whisky bottle is supposed to be stored standing, and wine bottles (with cork) are supposed to be stored lying to keep the cork moist. A whisky bottle cork has a wider wooden top and is usually sealed on the outside in some way to be as airtight as possible. A wine cork is supposed to breathe so that the wine can age in the bottle. (Wine can and is supposed to age/mature in the bottle). There has been used plastic "corks" for some time in parts of the wine industry, but not with very good results (other then economically - real cork is becoming expensive): The wine cannot "breathe" and age like it should in the bottle this way, so for that reason theese "corks" can be used only for cheap ready-for-consumption wine. Isn't this the case also with thight screw caps? But this is a sidetrack, I guess. For a whisky bottle, one will want a top as tight as possible. Personally, I don't care how it looks or if it's traditional or not. (But I have to admit I do like the "plop" when the cork goes out!). What I worry about is simply wether the cardboard inside the screw cap contains anything soluble in whisky that can affect the taste.

Gunnar

"DaveS" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com...

I have a number of screwcap bottles in my collection, so of which have been open for several years. I have noticed no deterioration in the contents, or any appreciable loss through evaporation.

As far as whisky is concerned, I think the type of top makes no difference, but I am sure someone out there will disagree.

Roger

"Renko" skrev i melding news:d7b3d4$kph$ snipped-for-privacy@nwrdmz01.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...

OK, you and Dave may be right. I hope so, of course. (And if you are, then probably the Talisker 10 really has improved, which is good!) I still feel a little uncertain though, when it comes to miniature bottles. They can, as I mentioned, more often be found stored lying, which brings the contents in direct contact with the top.

Gunnar

"Gunnar Thormodsaeter" skrev i melding news:42991add$ snipped-for-privacy@news.broadpark.no...

... Fwiw, I had a Talisker recently which turned out to be real good, better than I could remember. Think I'll have to buy a bottle in the near future! Anders