We just returned from Europe. Whenever the server opened the bottle of wine,
he/she sniffed the cork as soon as it was pulled out.

Last night at a restaurant in Baltimore we got discussing this. The waiter did
not sniff the cork but just laid it on the table. The discussion led to the
waiter and others at my table saying that it was up to the customer to sniff
the cork.

I'm curious as to whether the "custom" is different in the USA than in Europe.
Or was our waiter last night just misinformed. To me it makes sense that the
server would sniff the cork to be sure that he doesn't even pour a wine for
tasting that has gone bad.

Admittedly, it's probably not important since the chance of me getting a bad
bottle of the sort of wine I generally drink is almost zero. Still, I'm
questioning which "custom" is right.