Broken Cork in $600 Bottle of 25 Year Old Scotch Whisky! The Tough Choices I Made to Save the Whisky

[@pepebruno1672]

I feel your pain. You did all the right steps. This happened to me a while ago with a Craigellachie 23 bottle. I didn’t go to smaller bottles as I had a clean sterile full bottle to act as a receiver. I did first strain and then filter to remove the particle size cork pieces. But I went back into the original bottle - after sterilizing it. I had Craigellachie 13 corks - keep a collection of all of them for these situations. 2 years later, the bottle is half way and tasting better than ever. I think the speed of acting is more important than anything else. That cork on your bottle had been degrading for a long time. So another move would have not hurt it. Not like you are decanting it like a wine. Speed is the key to the game. I do love the original bottles. So maybe it is subjective. Sterilization methodology used: - Hot distilled water - New Brush - Hot distilled water - Repeat until desired cleanliness - Air dry upside down. Also, I’m a sucker for pretty cases. So I’m going to have to disagree on the packaging. Just as I recently did with Ralfy on one of his last rants. There is also something to be said about a bottle as a present and presentation.

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Got to save those stoppers… glad to hear you had success using the original bottle.

[@frankiehawkins3877]

Hi sir I had the same thing happen to me, not bunnahabhain 25,but a bottle that was old, I did the same thing as you, but I used a white linen cloth with a rubber band around the neck of the 2 ounce sample bottle ,it was a pain in the neck, but it worked fine and I didn't loose very much whisky, and it solved my problem, I liked the way you did it also, but at the time, it was the only thing I knew about saving my favorite scotch, you gave everyone a way to save there precious liquid, thanks for enlightening everyone, love your reviews, and I watch all of your videos,cheers sir !!!😅🎉

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Thanks! Glad you were able to save your bottle …

[@ralf_fr]

"not chill-filtered" gets a new meaning here 😅

[@michaelgonzalez347]

Happened to be on a Bunna cask strength. I used a new Mason jar with a mesh strainer, separated all the cork, then poured back into the bottle. I also bought synthetic corks from Amazon to keep on the side for this type of issue. I have been replacing with synthetic corks as the original corks break. They are a nice tight fit with no worry of breaking off again. I don't worry about air or oxidation from pouring from 1 bottle to the next b/c the whiskey needs to open up a little when you first open it anyway. Doesn't take away from nose or pallette. You wouldn't know of I placed a dram in front of you and you weren't told.

[@whiskywhereabouts]

I’m hearing a lot of stories about Bunna corks …

[@utoobia]

The filter to use is a gold-plated coffee maker basket filter. Steel, paper et al will react with the whisky.

[@inuitplus]

Saving old corks is an excellent idea and one I have done for years. To extract broken corks use an Ah So cork opener. KZbin has show me techniques online. Also there are synthetic cork stoppers with stepped entry plugs available for wine.

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Good to have options. Thanks.

[@thewhiskyenthusiast]

Ah man I feel your pain but you've did everything to right that wrong. I did the exact same things with an older Glenfiddich 18 but I did wonder if the coffee filter takes away some of the flavour or not 🤔 I completely agree with you on the box situation, they're so useless. I also keep all the corks from my finished bottles for this purpose as well. Interesting information for you; of all the corks I had seen broken or about to be disintegrated (from my whiskies) 90% of them were Bunnahabhains!

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Thanks for that. I'm learning from the response to this video that this is a known problem with Bunnahabhain! Absolutely have to keep all intact Bunna corks around; it seems like eventually you'll need one...

[@EscargoT80]

So sorry to hear what happened.. do you ever consider selling one of those mini bottles..? as a big Bunnahanhain fan I couldn't help myself but asking.. so I apologize if my question offends or disturbs you.. 🙏😇

[@fredhallock7204]

You should have run the whiskey Thru a coffee strainer

[@AB-kf8ry]

Bunnahabhain corks dry out pretty badly. Doesn't create a perfect seal in my experience.

[@whiskywhereabouts]

This is my first problematic Bunna cork, but I’ll certainly be on the look-out moving forward …

[@maxsalvail3397]

Both your mesh filter and coffee filter have fully saturated oxygen into your precious liquid.

[@inuitplus]

For wine at least I have been able to recover a broken but intact cork using a plastic tie strap. It works. Gently fold and insert the loop, once through it widens and can capture the cork. One pull and it is out. There are fancier wine tools that do the same. I have used the tie straps with success several times, all with one pull.

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Thanks for telling us about this option. Cheers.