Open Bottle Storage: Liquid Displacement

 

We thought of a new way to store whisky that would allow for very small pours and eliminate headspace at the same time. This method would be through displacement. We took a 750 ml bottle filled with 325 ml of bourbon. Then added enough sanitized glass marbles to displace the air so the bottle would be effectively full. The bottles were then stored upright in a dark temperature controlled environment.

A Year Later

NOTE: When we speak about the differences in taste or score, it is the difference between a specimen and the control, and another specimen and the control. Not the direct difference between the two specimens.

The displacement method we created gave nearly identical results with the best storage method with a difference of only 0.08 points. That is well under the standard deviation of 0.39. We do not suggest this method however, since fluid dynamics mean a bit too much whisky “sticks” to the marbles we used to displace the air. We feel that there is an opportunity here and plan to pursue this line of thought.

 

The average scores of each set of specimens. (Lower is better.)

Specimen Description Total Average Nose Average Palate Average Finish Average 750ml bottle, 325ml fill, cool dark place, marble displaced 1.58 1.5 1.5 1.75 2 oz decanted bottle, 2 oz fill, cool dark place, vacuum seal 1.5 1 1.75 1.75

 

Open Bottle Storage Experiment Chapters:

• Introduction – What is this about and what does it matter?
• Experiment Setup – How did we setup the experiment? What were the testing parameters? Etc.
• Whisky Left Out on A Shelf – What happens to whiskey just left on a shelf? Does it matter? Do you have any proof to back that up?
• Storing Whisky with Private Preserve – Does using Private Preserve help?
• Storing Whisky by Vacuum Sealing – Does vacuum sealing an open bottle help?
• Storing Whisky by Decanting – Does putting whisky into smaller bottles help?
• Storing Whisky with Liquid Displacement – Does displacing the liquid removed with something else help?
• Storing Whisky Headspace – Does the amount of headspace in an open bottle matter?
• Storing Whisky Oxidation Effects, and Letting Whisky Breath – What are the oxidation effects? Does whisky breath?
• Storing Whisky Conclusions – What are the best ways to store an open bottle of whisky.