Would you like a bit of cork with that whiskey?

Rummaging through the liquor cabinet last night, I pulled a bottle of Ron Anejo Aniversario Pampero from the back and, uh oh, the aged cork crumbled and fell into the remaining rum. I poured myself a hefty pour using a strainer and it was amazing, possibly as good as rum gets–smooth, rich, full of flavor. This Venezuelan specialty was introduced back in 19t3 to celebrate the Pampero Rum Family’s 25th Anniversary. I don’t know if it’s still the case, but each bottle was number when I bought mine, likely in the late ’80s or early ’90s–I told you many of the bottles in my cabinet were old. My bottle is #44792. It has been kept inside the leather pouch you see in the photo I found on the web; the pouch looks exactly the same but the bottle in picture is a bit classier as there is no red seal on mine.

So here’s the question. there is another good pour, maybe two, left. Will the cork which remains inside impact on the flavor of the rum is it just an aesthetic annoyance. More bluntly: should I drink what’s left as soon as possible?

In other news, thanks to the generosity of a gentleman name of Mr. Lewis Bryson, who is apparently inundated with bottles of spirits of all sorts, I now have several new additions to the liquor cabinet from which to sample and then write about.  Also, although I will believe it when I see it, a company in Britain contacted me a week or so ago with an offer to send me several whiskey samples. Should those somehow wend their way here, they too will be fodder for comment.

The winds seem to be blowing particularly cold up here on Orchard Ridge this year (I suspect that impression on my part may have something to do with my lessened body mass as well), so I’m reasonably sure a warming tipple or two could occur with some regularity.

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