They sent whisky to space!!

There has been a discussion around the impact of gravity and movement on the ageing of whisky for many years. Some claim it has no effect. Others claim that it absolutely does. Next week, we will delve into the depths of Kentucky Bourbon which is aged in boats that constantly traverse the globe but this week we look to the skies. 

The year is 2011, you are at Ardbeg Distillery and this discussion of gravity and ageing is in the smoky air. Then, an email from Nanoracks, a Texas-based space research company and a proposal is made. I am assuming there were then multiple emails sent and perhaps a video call and then they partnered up. The experiment was to work as follows: a vial of unmatured whisky was to be sent to the international space station for three years and an identical vial was to be kept here on earth. 

So it was done and the vial was sent to space. The hope is that they will be able to better understand the effect of zero gravity on the complex molecules that make up whisky and to investigate the impact these molecules have on taste and flavour profile. Whilst they wait, Ardbeg pays tribute to the vial in space and the experiment by launching a limited edition 12 year old called Galileo. 

The year is 2014 and the vial has returned! According to Ardbeg the findings of the experiment are “groundbreaking”, but there is a noticeable difference in the flavour profiles of the two vials. Dr Bill Lumsden, the head distiller at Ardbeg said of the space sample,  “it became clear that much more of Ardbeg's smoky, phenolic character shone through - to reveal a different set of smoky flavours which I have not encountered here on earth before."

Now, I’m not entirely sure what “phenolic” means but fortunately, the distillery describes in detail the difference in the two, saying the space sample has “ an intense aroma” with “hints of antiseptic smoke, rubber and smoked fish” as well as a “long” aftertaste of “antiseptic lozenges and rubbery smoke”. It sounds like sending the whisky to space does it no favours, flavour wise. However, the difference in taste does prove that gravity does play a key role in the ageing process, or a bored astronaut decided to fill the vial with fish and lozenges.