These seem to be becoming more prevalent—I've seen them on more expensive tawnies and now a white. Does anyone actually like them? The rubber gasket seems to jam on so hard to seal the bottle that you need lots of force to get it off. Which you can’t do easily because you can't grip the top because it's made from glass. And if you drop it, it breaks.
I appreciate they are going for a “decanter stopper” look, but couldn't that be achieved with a cork and a glass top (like some of the Cognac distilleries)? Or making the top wider than the bottle so you can get your fingers under it?
[/rant]
[Edited: typos etc.]
Last edited by JacobH on 19:12 Fri 19 Jun 2020, edited 2 times in total.
I like the glass stoppers, and I like them a lot. I've bought a couple of bottlesof Sandeman 20YO specifically for the bottles and stoppers. Once the tawny has been drunk, the bottle and glass stopper make for an excellent reusable travel decanter. I don't think I've ever had the difficulty you've mentioned of having to force the stopper out of the bottle — i rock the stopper sideways to break the seal and then it comes out easily.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.
2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
In fairness to Sandeman, most of the above rant was aimed at the one on the QdPA bottle. I don't remember ever having such a problem with the Sandeman Tawnies, although I do hold them responsible to the extent that they have given other shippers the idea!
Do you think the seal is better with one of these? I thought it might be a bit more fragile compared to a proper fitting T-Cork (which, on reuse, is often not the original.)
The seal on the re-used Sandeman 20 Year Old bottles does work well — well enough to be able to support a full bottle of Port by holding only the glass stopper and allowing the seal to support the weight of the full bottle. It makes for a very secure way to travel into London with a bottle in a backpack. I feel much more confident with one of these bottles than I do with a t-stopper, although t-stoppers chosen to correctly fit the size of bottle neck don't seem to have caused me any problems in the past.
I've not tried glass stoppers on anything other than the Sandeman 20YO so I've no idea how difficult they are to remove.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.
2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
