Posted by Kurt on 3/23/2006, 7:20 pm, in reply to "Re: Drink it" Storing your hard liquor is not much different from wines or champagnes with one exception. Liquor, such as whiskey should always be stored with the bottle standing up and never ever on its side like wine. Therefore these bottles should never leak, With wine you want to keep the cork moist and prevent it from drying out, shrinking and eventually letting air inside the bottle. Whiskey on the other hand has much higher alcohol contents and can actually contribute to the disintegration of the cork if storing on its side. The alcohol vapors alone will keep the cork moist enough to keep it from disintegrating. Store whiskey in a cool and dry place, away from sunlight. It should last for many years without degrading taste or aromas. One problem might be with less expensive whiskies that have caramel added for coloring. If stored over many years the caramel color has a tendency to fade, but should not impact the taste. The whiskey simply turns lighter of years. People who know what they are doing should perform resealing of wine or champagne. Simply putting wax on a leaking bottle will not do it. As a matter of fact wax is never used as a sealant. At least not for the purpose of keeping air out of the bottle. If you have a leaking bottle that must be saved you need to go to a wine store that can perform this type of "surgery”. Once you detect a leak air has already entered the bottle. If the leak is not detected very timely the contents will spoil quickly. Resealing is done by first removing the old cork, than removing the air from inside the bottle and then resealing it with a fresh cork. If you have bottles intended for long-term keeping check the corks from time to time. Make sure they don’t start to dry out and get brittle. Once this happens it’s time to do the surgery. Keep in mind a properly stored bottle will can last a lifetime without having to reseal it. If for any reason you need to reseal a whiskey, simply pull the cork and put a new one in.
Robert, I don’t know in what year Wisconsin got rid of the tax stamp on the bottle. This is regulated by each state and most, if not all, states do not have this requirement any longer, but I don’t know the dates this happened. A google search can probably answer this question.
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