Ardbeg Distillery, a renowned Scotch producer for over 300 years, has sent some bits of charred oak and unmatured malt to the International Space Station with the help of a US-based research company, NanoRacks. Scientists are conducting experiments to see how gravity affects the whisky maturation process.

BBC quoted Michael Johnson, CTO of NanoRacks, as saying, “By doing this microgravity experiment on the interaction of terpenes and other molecules with the wood samples provided by Ardbeg, we will learn much about flavours, even extending to applications like food and perfume. At the same time it should help Ardbeg find new chemical building blocks in their own flavour spectrum.”

Ardbeg’s head of whisky creation, Bill Lumsen, said in the same article, “We are all tremendously excited by this experiment – who knows where it will lead?”

Does this mean Scotch makers will someday warehouse their maturing casks in outer space, far away from the pesky gravitational force of the earth? Will future generations line up for limited releases of space Scotch? That would be tremendously exciting. (Photo by avidday.)

Source

Space station used for Ardbeg distillery experiments, BBC News