Hey - glad you like the video! Yes - they are great. For bottles going into storage long term they are great. If you use an 84 litre Realy Useful Box you can get about 20 or so bottles in too.
Thanks Mark for showing us how easy it is to remove parafilm after applying it too. I was a bit worried as there's lots online regarding applying parafilm to bottles, but little to nothing on how it is removed without damaging bottles etc as I've never used the stuff before, so seeing how securely it seals had me concerned about ease of removal. Thanks to you I can see it couldn't be safer or easier.
My collection is stored in my cellar upright on shelves(the packaging I’ve thrown away), so stable temperature and dark with parafilm around the neck as well. Almost perfect storing conditions I would say. Interesting video, cheers
Hey David - I hope you're well. That sounds like good storage to me - there are just things I would say. Firstly check the humidity isn't too high - you can get cheap hygrometers on Amazon - you don't want it above 60% really. Secondly, stop throwing the packaging away 😲😲🤣🤣
Thanks! 99% better than most other articles on this topic. You say high humidity during the video but what does that actually mean? Most wine storage options target around 60-70% and no higher for the same label degradation issues. I’m planning to store most of my whisky offsite in a climate controlled facility for wine and keen to understand if it will be suitable around that range.
I want to build a whiskey box for a $2000 bottle whiskey as an investment I live in Las Vegas and my house is just 70° sometimes 80s when i leave the house. I was thinking of making all four sides with half inch foam board and making a box out of white oak. That way the bottle doesn’t change temperature quickly. Each side will be roughly about an inch thick between the wood and the foam. And the box was sit on top of a shelf in my spare room. Also will be wrapping the cork with parafilm as you suggested. Any thoughts about that build?
Very informative, I've been turning my whisky bottles over once a month for 10 seconds obviously wont be doing that now. Clingfilm would do same job as parafilm I think.
Thanks! Good to see you back on the videos again too 🙃 Do you want the Macallan Edition 6 to review? It's going round a number of people and you're more than welcome to receive it, pour yourself a dram and review 🥃
Thanks for the information. I have been told never apply parafilm on old macallan, which may cause their cork to turn black?? Other whisky should not have that problem.
I have a question “ how long does paraffilm last? I really want to use it on my Umeshu project which will take time around 35 years to seal the bottle will the parafilm work on it? “
Mark, thanks for another very informative video, any advice on how to parafilm for those older UK bottles with tax stamps over the top? is it important to keep the stamp on the bottle?
We've parafilmed over tax strips in the past without issue. Often they are glued quite well so the parafilm causes no issues really. Sounds like you might have some nice bottles :)
Hello! I have some high end (over 1000 pounds) bottles of Macallan I've recently bought. Sealing them with the Parafilm isn't going to depreciate their values is it? Please answer, if you can, I know this video is quite old, so I'll understand if you can't/ don't. Many thanks for all the great advice.
If your bottle is less than 2/3 full, I would recommend before using Parafilm use some kind of Argon gas like Private Preserve Wine preserver. This will prevent oxidation of your whiskey.
Random question. Will whisky be impacted by storing in plastic crates/boxes which give off that plastic smell? Like will that smell impact the taste of the whisky? I've put these in a cool dark area but currently using large plastic crates to hold multiple bottles (also put in a few silica bags for moisture).
Hello Mark,I'm just asking what your thoughts on just plain cling film is!? I'm a miniature collector and have been doing it for a couple of year now,and have noticed no real problem with it.The only thing with clingfilm is cutting it to size which takes a bit of time,but I don't mind doing it,and I make sure I double wrap it also,so the clingfilm is at least getting wrapped around six times and then I just give it a quick heat seal with a lighter.and I've never had any problems.Just the poor man's Parafilm😀
Hi Barry - thanks for your comment. Sure - I would say given the super low cost of parafilm I would always opt for that. I know clingfilm is cheaper still - but we are looking at a tiny price to pay to safeguard your bottles :) However, if it aint broke, don't fix it!
@@MarkLittler Thanks Mark for replying.And the only reason I use clingfilm at the moment is that nobody is really getting to see my bottles so I don't have to impress anyone or explain to anyone as to why I'm using it.But yeah IL buy some Parafilm soon and start using it.👍
Thanks for the information. However I do a question here. I have been told never apply parafilm on old macallans, which cause their corks turn black. Any thoughts on that? Thanks
I think there are so many variables such as humidty etc to be certain. I know more people in high humidity countries tend to suffer more with this than in colder, dryer climates.
Parafilm CAN NOT be used for some of the bottles, I wish I could have known eariler. Especailly some old Macallan, I have around 900 bottles of all sort of whiskies and nearly all of them I put parafilm on them, after around 2 years, I now check some of the Macallan with parafilm---the Macallan 10 years old cask strength, folio 4 and Royal marriage 2011, shockingly I found the opening of the gold color seal has started truning dark colors--a tiny bit, I think it's some kind of corrosion when alocohol vapours trapped between the parafilm and the capsule and caused the colour changed, luckily only a tiny bit of the corrosion becuase I only applied the parafilm for a 2 years or so, can't imagine what will happen for a long time. Parafilm also don't suitable for the wax seals and the shiny capsule becuase it will leave residue on them. Now I have to remove all of them (it's hard work), on the other hand, some other bottles are ok with parafilm such as Springbanks seems ok (not the new 25 yo thought) but I just don't want to take the chance any more. Good general video though but dislike the hard sell of Parafilm, which it's not that good and far too expensive if buying from you to be honest.
Hi James - thanks for your message. That's strange - I wonder if the problems you have faced are to do with problems with the corks causing a poor bottle seal and thus more alcohol vapor problems. I say this as we have both a 2011 Royal Marriage and a Folio 4 that have been under Parafilm for a long time - over a year - and both are fine. You always get some issues with corks and given that you have over 900 bottles some are bound not to be perfect. Has it happened with any other bottles or just these Macallan? If it was just the Macallan then it would add weight that it was a cork problem I would say. Wax capsules can be problematic and even more so if they are stored in warmer climates. I've found that some bottles such as the Ardbeg Provenance (which has a very hard wax capsule) can go under Parafilm no problem. Softer waxes - such as the Bowmore Bicentenary (!?!?!?!) - should not go under Parafilm really. Glad you like the video too :)
@@MarkLittler I have few Macallan 10 yo cask strength, nearly all of them suffer from the parafilm, I knew that because one day I searched online for the answer if parafilm could be a risk for whisky bottles but very few websites cover this but one of the Taiwanese website forum some people did have the issues so I checked mine and found the problems. Royal marriage/s capsule didn't suffer the colour change but parafilm did leave residue and cannot be removed easily after say over 2 years so I have to remove them. Regarding to the wax, I strongly suggest not using it because both of them are WAX so make no difference when talking about the sealing but you do have risk they stick together, I have couple of Glendronach Kingsman and I didn't if I should put parafilm on them so I did some reserach online too, the answer is don't take the risk. Thank you for your reply and take it seriously. Although I know the issue might be relative to the corks problems but you never know which bottles have problems do you? The folio 4 is only few years ago and I really cannot believe it has the issue too, I used to trust parafilm but it's not worth the risk I mentioned. Macallan, especially the old style capsules are the worst, like I said, I have few 10yo cask strength and all of them have problems so did the folio 4, for the new Macallan capsule, the risk is for the laser seal, parafilm sometimes will stick tightly to the laser seal and when remove it, some laser seal will come out with the parafilm. Like I said in previous comment, springbanks seem ok, Ardbeg, some of the capsules have shiny bit will stick with parafilm when remove, I cannot tell all 900 bottles but after put all of them under parafilm and now remove them all is a very hard work.
@@James-ro8yb Can I ask your opinion on just plain old cling film!? I actually use that on some miniatures and it seems to be ok.It takes a while though because I have to cut it all to size,and then I put at least two layers on,but up until now it seems fine and I've had it on for about two years.
@@barryhamilton7845Some people said the cling film would be just as good as Parafilm some even using them to wrap the whole bottle. IMO if you are going to keep them more than 10 years, it worth putting something on however if for sale or drink less than 10 years, the original seals will be just fine, thank you and good day.
Hi Mark, great information but I do please have a question. As a keen drinker I also have been stocking up on favourites and wonder for what time periods does para-film become sensible? Is it worth sealing bottles you will possibly consume in 3-5 years or is it longer-term solution? Thanks and awesome videos!
Hi Neil, glad you liked the video! That's a great question - parafilm helps prevent evaporation which can certainly occur in the short term as well as the long term. Whilst it may not be as imperative as with the long term storage of a collection, why should you miss out on more of that whisky to drink?!
You said Parafilm creates an air tight seal, but then also said is ISN'T impermeable to air, surely no one would use it if it let air through as it would defeat the entire purpose??
It does indeed defeat the entire purpose. Parafilm is NOT airtight and is used exactly for that reason in labs. You can keep your bacteria/plants humid as water is trapped, and they survive as CO2 goes out and oxygen comes in. Wrapping it tightly 3-4 times is not making it airtight either. Wrapping parafilm MIGHT avoid alcohol evaporation, I am not sure. It absolutely does avoid water evaporation. Kind regards, a laborant using this stuff all the time.
@@MarkLittler with all respect, I would disagree here :) Parafilm costs £10 for 15 bottles on your webpage, which works out to £0.66 a bottle. A 30 metre roll of cling film food wrap would cost between £5 and £10. So while Parafilm's cost is "low", the cost per bottle with the cling wrapping will be incomparably low. Haven't tried tho, maybe it's not convenient.
Well done!! Never thought of using bovida bags before for humidity issues. Cheers!
Hey - glad you like the video! Yes - they are great. For bottles going into storage long term they are great. If you use an 84 litre Realy Useful Box you can get about 20 or so bottles in too.
@@MarkLittler Nice!! What humidity do you use for your stored bottles?
@@MarkLittler hi from singapore! do you mind linking the bovida bags for humidity as well as 84 litre realy useful box?
Top work Mark! I've only got a handful of sealed bottles but I'll apply these techniques immediately
Thanks Vin - glad you liked the video :)
Mark, I am new to your channel. I have to say, I really enjoy your content and dialogue. It's very informative. Keep up the good work! Cheers!
Great seeing how to use parafilm on a bottle as seen it mentioned before. Helpful video 👍
Thanks Jeff - glad you liked the video! Parafilm is a life saver for so many bottles.
Thanks Mark for showing us how easy it is to remove parafilm after applying it too.
I was a bit worried as there's lots online regarding applying parafilm to bottles, but little to nothing on how it is removed without damaging bottles etc as I've never used the stuff before, so seeing how securely it seals had me concerned about ease of removal. Thanks to you I can see it couldn't be safer or easier.
My collection is stored in my cellar upright on shelves(the packaging I’ve thrown away), so stable temperature and dark with parafilm around the neck as well. Almost perfect storing conditions I would say. Interesting video, cheers
Hey David - I hope you're well. That sounds like good storage to me - there are just things I would say. Firstly check the humidity isn't too high - you can get cheap hygrometers on Amazon - you don't want it above 60% really. Secondly, stop throwing the packaging away 😲😲🤣🤣
Very helpful, thanks a lot 😊
Thanks! 99% better than most other articles on this topic. You say high humidity during the video but what does that actually mean? Most wine storage options target around 60-70% and no higher for the same label degradation issues. I’m planning to store most of my whisky offsite in a climate controlled facility for wine and keen to understand if it will be suitable around that range.
i have been told to wiggling the bottle once a while,quite a job,I’m happy to know don’t have to do that,thx buddy
Another factual video. Thank u
Hi Jack - glad you liked it - we have a good line up for the next few weeks too!
What would you say is the appropriate temperature to store the bottles?
I want to build a whiskey box for a $2000 bottle whiskey as an investment
I live in Las Vegas and my house is just 70° sometimes 80s when i leave the house. I was thinking of making all four sides with half inch foam board and making a box out of white oak. That way the bottle doesn’t change temperature quickly. Each side will be roughly about an inch thick between the wood and the foam. And the box was sit on top of a shelf in my spare room.
Also will be wrapping the cork with parafilm as you suggested. Any thoughts about that build?
Very informative, I've been turning my whisky bottles over once a month for 10 seconds obviously wont be doing that now. Clingfilm would do same job as parafilm I think.
Just keep it out of sunlight in a cool place not too cold not too hot
Is there a replacement for parafilm if it’s not available in my country?
Great video Mark 👍🏼 Slainte
Thanks! Good to see you back on the videos again too 🙃 Do you want the Macallan Edition 6 to review? It's going round a number of people and you're more than welcome to receive it, pour yourself a dram and review 🥃
@@MarkLittler thank you Mark, squeezing in a little time in the week to get back on track with uploads. Sure it'd be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the information.
I have been told never apply parafilm on old macallan, which may cause their cork to turn black?? Other whisky should not have that problem.
I think the humidity has a big impact on this - I've not seen many examples of it in the UK.
What about dipping the lid end into wax -from a candle?
parafilm grafting tape ok?
With 'proper' parafilm so cheap I would just stick to the standard one.
I have a question “ how long does paraffilm last? I really want to use it on my Umeshu project which will take time around 35 years to seal the bottle will the parafilm work on it? “
No idea on that sorry! You could contact Bemis (the maker) and ask then.
I am vacuum sealing my bottles (including boxes/tubes). It’ll keep the humidity stable and the oxygen out.
@marklittler What % humidity is not too high and not too low? TY!
how about plastic wrap? is it doable?
Can I store a sealed bottle of whiskey in my van in Florida for 3 months? It might get to 100F for 3 hours a day.
You absolutely can - but it might make a mess of the whisky 😂
Could i dip the bottle tips in wax? Would that work instead of the parafilm?
Well you could. But why not use Parafilm which costs pence per bottle and is safe, easy and quick 😉
Mark, do you ever review bourbon?
Mark, thanks for another very informative video, any advice on how to parafilm for those older UK bottles with tax stamps over the top? is it important to keep the stamp on the bottle?
We've parafilmed over tax strips in the past without issue. Often they are glued quite well so the parafilm causes no issues really.
Sounds like you might have some nice bottles :)
Tried to buy tape with link but no way to put item in basket!
Sorry about that. It's back in stock now and you should be able to order 👍
@@MarkLittler cheers
Hello! I have some high end (over 1000 pounds) bottles of Macallan I've recently bought. Sealing them with the Parafilm isn't going to depreciate their values is it? Please answer, if you can, I know this video is quite old, so I'll understand if you can't/ don't. Many thanks for all the great advice.
Do you think it's necessary to parafilm the newer Macallan bottles which have the plastic collar?
If your bottle is less than 2/3 full, I would recommend before using Parafilm use some kind of Argon gas like Private Preserve Wine preserver. This will prevent oxidation of your whiskey.
Hi Mark. Do you have a link to the website?
Random question. Will whisky be impacted by storing in plastic crates/boxes which give off that plastic smell? Like will that smell impact the taste of the whisky? I've put these in a cool dark area but currently using large plastic crates to hold multiple bottles (also put in a few silica bags for moisture).
Hello Mark,I'm just asking what your thoughts on just plain cling film is!? I'm a miniature collector and have been doing it for a couple of year now,and have noticed no real problem with it.The only thing with clingfilm is cutting it to size which takes a bit of time,but I don't mind doing it,and I make sure I double wrap it also,so the clingfilm is at least getting wrapped around six times and then I just give it a quick heat seal with a lighter.and I've never had any problems.Just the poor man's Parafilm😀
Hi Barry - thanks for your comment. Sure - I would say given the super low cost of parafilm I would always opt for that. I know clingfilm is cheaper still - but we are looking at a tiny price to pay to safeguard your bottles :) However, if it aint broke, don't fix it!
@@MarkLittler Thanks Mark for replying.And the only reason I use clingfilm at the moment is that nobody is really getting to see my bottles so I don't have to impress anyone or explain to anyone as to why I'm using it.But yeah IL buy some Parafilm soon and start using it.👍
Thanks for the information. However I do a question here. I have been told never apply parafilm on old macallans, which cause their corks turn black. Any thoughts on that? Thanks
I think there are so many variables such as humidty etc to be certain. I know more people in high humidity countries tend to suffer more with this than in colder, dryer climates.
So a dark room
16 degrees
Parafil.
Upright
I'm OK?
The boxes they come in from sellers, can u keep them in that also. Bubble wrap ?
I have a bottle I paid a pretty penny for I want to store properly but it's in a sealed box
Parafilm CAN NOT be used for some of the bottles, I wish I could have known eariler. Especailly some old Macallan, I have around 900 bottles of all sort of whiskies and nearly all of them I put parafilm on them, after around 2 years, I now check some of the Macallan with parafilm---the Macallan 10 years old cask strength, folio 4 and Royal marriage 2011, shockingly I found the opening of the gold color seal has started truning dark colors--a tiny bit, I think it's some kind of corrosion when alocohol vapours trapped between the parafilm and the capsule and caused the colour changed, luckily only a tiny bit of the corrosion becuase I only applied the parafilm for a 2 years or so, can't imagine what will happen for a long time. Parafilm also don't suitable for the wax seals and the shiny capsule becuase it will leave residue on them. Now I have to remove all of them (it's hard work), on the other hand, some other bottles are ok with parafilm such as Springbanks seems ok (not the new 25 yo thought) but I just don't want to take the chance any more. Good general video though but dislike the hard sell of Parafilm, which it's not that good and far too expensive if buying from you to be honest.
Hi James - thanks for your message. That's strange - I wonder if the problems you have faced are to do with problems with the corks causing a poor bottle seal and thus more alcohol vapor problems. I say this as we have both a 2011 Royal Marriage and a Folio 4 that have been under Parafilm for a long time - over a year - and both are fine. You always get some issues with corks and given that you have over 900 bottles some are bound not to be perfect. Has it happened with any other bottles or just these Macallan? If it was just the Macallan then it would add weight that it was a cork problem I would say.
Wax capsules can be problematic and even more so if they are stored in warmer climates. I've found that some bottles such as the Ardbeg Provenance (which has a very hard wax capsule) can go under Parafilm no problem. Softer waxes - such as the Bowmore Bicentenary (!?!?!?!) - should not go under Parafilm really.
Glad you like the video too :)
@@MarkLittler I have few Macallan 10 yo cask strength, nearly all of them suffer from the parafilm, I knew that because one day I searched online for the answer if parafilm could be a risk for whisky bottles but very few websites cover this but one of the Taiwanese website forum some people did have the issues so I checked mine and found the problems. Royal marriage/s capsule didn't suffer the colour change but parafilm did leave residue and cannot be removed easily after say over 2 years so I have to remove them. Regarding to the wax, I strongly suggest not using it because both of them are WAX so make no difference when talking about the sealing but you do have risk they stick together, I have couple of Glendronach Kingsman and I didn't if I should put parafilm on them so I did some reserach online too, the answer is don't take the risk. Thank you for your reply and take it seriously. Although I know the issue might be relative to the corks problems but you never know which bottles have problems do you? The folio 4 is only few years ago and I really cannot believe it has the issue too, I used to trust parafilm but it's not worth the risk I mentioned. Macallan, especially the old style capsules are the worst, like I said, I have few 10yo cask strength and all of them have problems so did the folio 4, for the new Macallan capsule, the risk is for the laser seal, parafilm sometimes will stick tightly to the laser seal and when remove it, some laser seal will come out with the parafilm. Like I said in previous comment, springbanks seem ok, Ardbeg, some of the capsules have shiny bit will stick with parafilm when remove, I cannot tell all 900 bottles but after put all of them under parafilm and now remove them all is a very hard work.
@@James-ro8yb Can I ask your opinion on just plain old cling film!? I actually use that on some miniatures and it seems to be ok.It takes a while though because I have to cut it all to size,and then I put at least two layers on,but up until now it seems fine and I've had it on for about two years.
@@barryhamilton7845Some people said the cling film would be just as good as Parafilm some even using them to wrap the whole bottle. IMO if you are going to keep them more than 10 years, it worth putting something on however if for sale or drink less than 10 years, the original seals will be just fine, thank you and good day.
do you think i can use parafilm on my macallan edition 1-6 & sir peter blake? thanks in advance
Hi Mark, great information but I do please have a question. As a keen drinker I also have been stocking up on favourites and wonder for what time periods does para-film become sensible? Is it worth sealing bottles you will possibly consume in 3-5 years or is it longer-term solution? Thanks and awesome videos!
Hi Neil, glad you liked the video! That's a great question - parafilm helps prevent evaporation which can certainly occur in the short term as well as the long term. Whilst it may not be as imperative as with the long term storage of a collection, why should you miss out on more of that whisky to drink?!
@@MarkLittler that is a great point, thank you.
You said Parafilm creates an air tight seal, but then also said is ISN'T impermeable to air, surely no one would use it if it let air through as it would defeat the entire purpose??
It does indeed defeat the entire purpose. Parafilm is NOT airtight and is used exactly for that reason in labs. You can keep your bacteria/plants humid as water is trapped, and they survive as CO2 goes out and oxygen comes in. Wrapping it tightly 3-4 times is not making it airtight either.
Wrapping parafilm MIGHT avoid alcohol evaporation, I am not sure. It absolutely does avoid water evaporation.
Kind regards, a laborant using this stuff all the time.
Why can't we just secure the lid with cling wrap?
Hi Yolo - you certainly can - however, given the very low cost of Parafilm it makes sense to just use the correct product.
@@MarkLittler lol ok hhh
@@MarkLittler with all respect, I would disagree here :) Parafilm costs £10 for 15 bottles on your webpage, which works out to £0.66 a bottle. A 30 metre roll of cling film food wrap would cost between £5 and £10. So while Parafilm's cost is "low", the cost per bottle with the cling wrapping will be incomparably low. Haven't tried tho, maybe it's not convenient.
I like dipping them in wax.
I just drink it