The Young Science of Making Old Spirits

wow, thats really interesting. if it really works, itll totally change the way young spirits are done. as he says, it still wont compare to truly aging a spirit for 50 years, but for the young cheap ones, i cant see any reason not to do it if it works even half as good as claimed.

I suppose that we will find out how good these products are when we actually taste and smell them for ourselves. Skill of the operator will be as important with "enhanced" products as they will be with traditional products. In other words, there is likely to be a range in quality in the products produced in the enhanced products sector. Time will tell how good any of this new stuff will be.

@Benancio Very interesting! I have no problem with getting young spirits to taste like old ones. But I would like to know what is the chemical difference between the two of it. I usually finished a bottle between two months and two years; how will react the whisky produce with this process over time? So I think like you all that taste and value will determine its succes and craftmanship will play its role to achieve true greatness like with any process.

Let's all just be warned. This is the guy who made Leviathan.

@RetFor, I think your probably right, low end whiskey might improve.

@Victor, Distillers have their own chemist, I'm sure this isn't a new idea, I find it hard believe that they haven't tried to speed the process up. Have you ever heard of any non traditional processing of whiskey?

@Robert99, I have no idea how these products will hold up. My first reaction is still the same. I'll let some ginniepigs drink it first. I have a few friends that will drink anything, they have never seen a whiskey they didn't like.

OlJas, He also has a book on how to distill whiskey. Making great whiskey is still an art and not a science. Not to say there isn't science in today's whiskey industry. I'll avoid Lavaithan. There was a peated malt whiskey made in Oregon I think, not great, but not aweful. If it was easy anyone would make great Islay whiskey, it's not easy. Santa Fe Spirits makes a wood smoked malt whiskey, some people like it, I hate it.

My first reaction to this article was sadness and horror. Sadness to see the end of whisky as we know it. And I was horrified to realize that the future of whisky may be that of a "beefed up botox" product. But let's look at the upsides first: First of all, it must be of great help to the labs at the distilleries. With this new invention they will be able to see very quickly how a spirit reacts to a certain age or a certain type of wood. Maybe that will make them more willing to try some funky sort of wood that they wouldn't dare if they had to actually buy the wood and age the spirit for years before they would know how the end product would taste like. So as long as it stays in the lab I'm all for it. On the downside I envision a future where age statement whisky will totally disappear (or at least divide the whisky market into super premium (with an age statement) and affordable (no age)). Why invest in wood, dunnage warehouses and so forth if you can sell a product that tastes the same (and to much greater profit), but is made in 2 hours instead of 20 years? Luckily, at least in Scotland, the whisky brand is controlled by a lot of requirements such as "at least 3 years of oak maturation". Maybe what we will then see is two different kinds of Whisky spirits developing: on the one hand you'll have "Whisky" and on the other you'll have something they might call "Wheasky". Meaning that you'll be able to buy lets say "Talisker 18" in both a whisky version and a wheasky version. The former priced around 100 dollars and the latter for half the price. It would be similar to that of the music or film business where you can buy the product in different formats (LP, CD, DVD, BLU Ray). If that's how the future pans out there'll be easy access to "fake" old whisky and very limited (and expensive) access to truly aged whisky....but as things are going right now thats the future anyhow..

I predict this will be some garbage we've all forgotten about in a few weeks' time.

Chuck Cowdery has a biting write-up about these aging schemes on his blog today:

chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2015/08/…

This will revolutionise the whisk(e)y industry, just how the hamburger-in-a-can killed the humble burger...oh ...wait...

The results are in! At least one guy says they're good: scotchnoob.com/2017/02/…

Also, more promotional fluff: spiritsjournal.klwines.com/klwinescom-spiri…

I admit: Even though Leviathan consumed my palate and soul in a slow-burning diaper fire, these sound different enough that I would like to try them.

If the innovators ever get this accelerated whisky-aging thing right it will be absolutely hilarious to witness the turmoil this will do to the smug self-appointed 'Guardians of Tradition' in the whisky industry. Customers trying the new stuff and saying things like: "This new stuff is not really "whisky", but it tastes better than that 12 year old stuff which YOU are selling." I would love to watch that show!!!

Those who know me know that I try always to be polite, but that I don't give a shit for whisky tradition or for whisky Romanticism. I just care what it tastes and smells like. For me, everything else is a pipe-dream fantasy, a fantasy world which does not now exist and probably never did exist.

I love it when @Victor unloads both barrels (excuse the pun).

@Victor I would add that Amrut is an example of young but mature whisky. I've read "experts" who say that while it matures quicker it doesn't achieve the same complexity as older malts, but that is just hog-wash (Not Boss-Hog-wash...). Anyone who has tasted asbourbon cask single barrel Amrut has known complexity...

@Nozinan,

Amrut Single Cask is amazing. It is a world class whisky worthy of high praise. In less than 5 years the angel's share amounts to 45%; that is the trade-off. There is a toll for traveling in the fast lane.

@Benancio so that is why you gave me that bottle at the whiskey summit! I still haven't tried it. Maybe I'll finally open it up tonight.

This would certiainly put the cat amongst the pigeons!

@Nelom, I did taste and review one of the accelerated-aged whiskies. It was better than I expected.

connosr.com/cleveland-bourbon-50-abv-whisk…

Soon there will be more opportunities for all of us to try out some of these products.

Thanks @Victor and @Ol_Jas for pointing me towards this thread. It'll be interesting to read through.