REFINED VICES

I have been contemplating quite a bit recently on the influence of oxygen or air exposure to rums in opened bottles.

I know many of my fellow whisky enthusiasts actually find that whiskies improve after opening the bottle and allowing them to breathe; well, I must say that in many cases I do not personally find so - I'd rather say that especially delicious sweeter harmonious notes tend to suffer from day one after opening, and eventually the whisky changes in some cases totally, becoming far less pleasant a dram.

When it comes to rums, I hold this opinion perhaps even stronger: Most rums which stand in my cabinet for more than 8 months opened show definite signs of changes in taste, and the change is not for the better. For clarification, my cabinet is a dark closed cabinet which is kept at a reasonably steady 21 - 25 celsius at all times.

A good example is a bottle of Barbancourt 15yo I revisited briefly today: This rum has lost much of the creamy texture and smooth sweetness that characterizes this rum to me. The bottle has been opened quite some time ago (maybe 1 year or more) has perhaps 20% of its contents left in it, and the taste is simply not the same any more.

Any other opinions on this matter?

My experience here is really pretty limited, but I have lately noted a couple of aggressive younger rums (example Jack Tar) benefit markedly from a good airing in the glass especially at first opening of the bottle. Once the bottle has some air space these same rums do smooth out and become more accessible.

But I do trust your experience, and I've considered buying some really airtight bottle seals to replace my corks. What do you think of this?

I think the ultimate solution of this problem is to drink the rums faster, fast enough not to let the air take any effect!

I store my bottles on an open shelf and the room temperature is around 24 C most of the time. I have noticed some changes in the nose and taste with some old rums and whiskies when comparing to fresh bottles but nothing dramatic that would affect my opinion of them.

There is something I like to call "The First Nose" by which I mean the very first aroma when you open the bottle for the first time. This aroma seems to change quite quickly and lose some of the more delicate aromas. This is why I tend to keep my bottles closed till the day I review them.