You can put the cork back in and put it in the fridge, but the flavor is never the same, and sometimes it spoils and tastes unpleasant overnight.
So what makes hard liquor so resilient to time and exposure compared to wine?
In: Chemistry
The organisms that produce alcohol are called yeasts. When yeasts are allowed to consume sugars in an environment that does not contain oxygen, they produce alcohol, and they will do so until they have produced enough alcohol that it kills them. Some yeasts remain though, which is why when beer is bottled, the few remaining yeasts continue to produce gas which causes the beer to be fizzy. Wine is treated before bottling so this does not happen.
Hard liquor is distilled, which means it has been converted to steam and then condensed into liquid again. The concentration of alcohol in liquor is far too high to allow yeast to survive, and most/all are removed during distillation.
When yeasts are allowed to consume sugars in the presence of oxygen, they produce acetic acid instead of alcohol. Acetic acid is what vinegar is made from. Since yeasts can’t survive in concentrated alcohol, they aren’t able to change the alcohol in liquor into acetic acid, but they CAN in wine and beer after it has been opened and oxygen is put in contact with the yeasts.
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