LONDON -- When American space research company NanoRacks got in touch with a Scottish distillery four years ago, they came with an offer that couldn't be refused -- sending their whisky into space.
The experiment sent vials of Ardbeg Distillery whisky into space for nearly three years, mimicking whisky maturation to find out the effects of micro-gravity on distillation compared to distillation on Earth. The whisky was housed on the International Space Station, which it reached on board a Soyuz rocket launched from Kazakhstan.
"The space samples were noticeably different," Ardbeg's director of distilling, Dr. Bill Lumsden, told Sky News. "When I nosed and tasted the space samples, 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."
Dr. Lumsden discusses the experiment with whisky expert Charlie MacLean and NanoRacks CEO Jeff Mamber in "Final Fronteir Film: The Pier Review".
The full results of the experiment have also been published in a paper that details Ardbeg and NanoRack's full methodology and conclusions.