You know what they say: when one whiskey ships out into the solar system another returns. That’s the case with Ardbeg Whiskey who shipped a vial of their scotch three years ago for a taste experiment like nothing that came before it. The distillers retrieved their prize recently and tested the space blend alongside the Earth blend to see if there was a difference.
According to the experts, “The taste was very focused, with smoked fruits such as prunes, raisins, sugared plums and cherries, earthy peat smoke, peppermint, aniseed, cinnamon and smoked bacon or hickory-smoked ham. The aftertaste is intense and long, with hints of wood, antiseptic lozenges and rubbery smoke.” Doesn’t sound the most appealing, but it’s clear that outer space did a number on the drink.
While the compounds that make up the whiskey showed no difference between Earth and space samples, they saw that the oak influence was less evident in the drink that was shot into the galaxy. It’s up to them to discover which ratio results in the desired taste. Now that their first experiment has proven to be a success of sorts, they’re hoping that with a few more tries and tweaks the future of whiskey will be zero gravity.