The Durand Corkscrew from Finest & Rarest

Absinthe Pernod Fils "Garanti Fabriqué en 1913"

This is the classic "benchmark" Pernod Fils with the labels overprinted "Fabriqué en 1913"
(made in 1913). This is a very rare bottling - these bottles were the very last stock produced
by Pernod before the ban in 1914. They were sent to Holland for safekeeping and a small
quantity were released 25 years later for export in 1938 with this special overprinted label.
The balance of the stocks was unfortunately destroyed by bombing during the war. Photos
show the bottle still covered in the original cellar dust!

The Durand
The Ultimate Corkscrew for Vintage Cork Removal. All the advantages of a corkscrew and a Butler's
Friend combined into one device. By far the best and safest way to remove corks from valuable
old vintage bottles, especially port, madeira and other wines with "difficult" corks

The first of its kind: A precision engineered product specifically designed to safely remove even the
very oldest and most fragile corks from rare vintage wine bottles.

All collectors of old and rare wines (and spirits) are familiar with how difficult it can be to extract an old
and sometimes crumbling cork intact, and how frustrating it is when pieces of the cork end up inside the
bottle, usually then necessitating decanting the contents through a filter.

Until now, there have been two primary devices used to remove corks from old bottles:

1. The traditional corkscrew with a spiral helix that is threaded through the cork, and which then uses a
lever action to remove the cork.
2. The so-called "Butler's Friend" which has two sprung metal blades, which are carefully worked down on
either side of the cork (between the sides of the cork and the glass of the bottle neck). Once the blades
are fully inserted, the cork is removed intact using a twisting a and rocking motion.

Each of these has advantages and disadvantages:

The traditional corkscrew is easy to use, and the spiral helix requires little force to insert, and so
minimizes the chances of accidentally pushing an old cork into the bottle. BUT the problem, particular with
very old and crumbling corks, is that all the upward force of the lever action is exerted only in the middle
"core" of the cork - this can often result in removal of only this centre portion of the cork, with the outer
sides of the original cork remaining stuck to the inside of the neck. One then has to try and scrape these
out manually, usually impossible to do without at least some of the cork residue falling into the wine.

The classic "Butler's Friend" with its two parallel metal blades requires some practice to use, but can give
good results, and doesn't damage the cork. Its weakness however is that it requires a fair amount of force

to insert the blades down the sides of the cork initially. With an old bottle, this downwards force can very easily push the whole
cork into the bottle.

Experienced collectors will often have both devices to hand, and will try to use the appropriate one to open a particular bottle.
The problem is that almost always it's impossible to know in
advance where the weakness of a particular cork will lie - will it be prone to sliding into the bottle (better to use a corkscrew
then, not a Butler's Friend), or will the centre core crumble and disintegrate under the lever action of the corkscrew (then of
course much better to use a Butler's Friend).

Finally however, with The Durand - a patented, precision engineered device designed by a leading international wine collector -
this conundrum has been solved: with this instrument you have ALL the advantages of BOTH devices, with NONE of their
disadvantages. The corkscrew component grips the cork firmly, making it impossible to accidentally push into the bottle, while
the twin blades of the Butler's friend module enable you to gently ease the cork out of the bottle, undamaged and intact. The two
systems work seamlessly in parallel, to help you extract even the oldest and most fragile corks.

The Durand is completely intuitive to use, but here is the basic procedure:

1. Screw the HELIX into the center of the cork until the STABILIZER BAR rests against the top of the cork (or bottle).

2. With the BLADES on either side of the STABILIZER BAR, insert first the “long” then the “short” BLADE between the cork and
the neck of the bottle.

3. Work the BLADES down between the cork and the bottle by pressing down alternately over each BLADE using the HANDLE.
Continue this “rocking” motion until the bottom of the HANDLE rests against the top of the STABILIZER BAR.

4. Hold the bottle securely. With the other hand grasp the STABILIZER BAR and HANDLE together and twist, then pull upward
slowly continuing to twist to remove the cork.

Order the Durand corkscrew
from absinthes.com

The Durand has been tested and used with great success by numerous wine lovers, collectors, and local and
internationally known sommeliers. It has extracted the cork … completely … each and every time.

Each precision engineered unit is packaged in a custom clamshell-design cork casing, held together with four small
magnets at the corners. This is a quality tool for the serious wine enthusiast, that will give a lifetime of useful service.

All bottles and antiques are shipped in secured
boxes, no risk of breakage. WE UNCONDITIONALLY
GUARANTEE EVERY DELIVERY. In the very unlikely
event that a bottle gets lost, we will replace it
immediately or refund your money in full.

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