Tag: Oxidation

The Neck Pour – myth, fact, or scapegoat?

Of all the terms to rise into common use amongst whisky drinkers these days, the “neck pour” is one of the more interesting concepts.  So what is the neck pour?  Is it good or bad?  Does it even exist?  Read on….

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Oxidation – does whisky go off in the bottle?

Oxidation.  Oxidised.  Oxidisation.  Oxidise…..  

  1. (Verb) To undergo a reaction in which electrons are lost by a molecule, atom, or ion to another matter or species
  2. (Whisky) A loose, general, catch-all term to describe the phenomenon of a whisky’s quality slowly deteriorating in the bottle over time, after you’ve opened it.

It’s one of the most common questions and concerns you see asked in whisky forums and discussion groups: “Once I open my bottle, how long have I got until it starts to go off or deteriorate?”  Or it may take the form, “I have a bottle with just one third left in it, and I left it at the back of the cupboard for a year.  Now it tastes different – what’s going on?”   You don’t travel far along your whisky journey until the word “oxidation” enters your vocabulary.

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