Corked Rum – Honey, vanilla, toffee, cork ?! What?

Wine enthusiasts are aware of the risks of getting a spoiled bottle. Cork taint can affect wine from all price range and quality. I’ve personally got many corked bottles overtime. Some of everyday 10$ wines to the 50$+ Barolos that were aging in my cellar. Here in Quebec, we can return spoiled wines, no questions asked, if they were purchased within a year. Imagine the frustration of opening an expensive bottle that you’ve been nurturing for many years, only to find out it is corked and there’s nothing you can do about it. On my first Dominican Republic trip many years ago, our hotel graciously gave us a bottle of Brugal Anejo (with screw cap). Back then, I did not drink rum at all, still I kept the bottle all those years . When rum became a passion, I opened the bottle only to sadly discover the familiar cork smell. I discussed this with friends and the spirit specialist at my local store… corked spirit? Apparently I was crazy. Fast forward to last week. I’m drinking my first Barcelo Imperial ordered in Punta Cana at the hotel bar. Although the cork taste and smell is present, the rum is still drinkable. Since rum is blended, I’m guessing only certain casks were spoiled and the mixed volume made this drinkable. Luckily this spoiled bottle was finished and I got excellent untainted Imperial the rest of my vacation. Since I well behaved all week, yesterday I decided I deserved to open and taste for the first time the Brugal Leyanda I brought back (thanks to the Rum ratings rave reviews). After smelling in the brand new bottle, I could tell it was badly corked. Still I tasted it wishing it was tolerable, I could somehow taste the Leyanda greatness, but the cork aftertaste was just too much. Here I am with an undrinkable product I purchased in another country and probably will not be able to get a replacement. As a last resort I wrote directly to Brugal, I will post the outcome in this thread. In the future I will put a maximum amount I’m willing to risk. No way I’m buying expensive spirits when I can’t return or exchange them. Any of you got similar experiences or corked rums? What brand? So far I’ve only had this problem with Dominican products and Brugal is 2/2 in my book.