Liquor breakthrough: UK university to age whiskey in space for the first time

Whiskey to be distilled in space as part of a university experiment

Whiskey is set to be aged in space for the very first time in what seems like a plot straight out of a Douglas Adams novel.

Scottish and Japanese engineers have joined forces, set to discover if spirits aging beyond Earth’s atmosphere could actually fast-track the distilling process. 

A rocket is planned to launch in 2028, sending samples of whiskey and its base ingredients aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for a total of 5 years.

Frequent changes in temperatures between freezing colds and soaring heats (the typical distillery stages that whiskey undergoes) could be sped-up by orbiting the planet every 90 minutes.

The hopes are high, and if results show that maturation processes can be accelerated, it may open a window for distillers across the globe.

Dr Gilles Bailet, of the University of Glasgow, said a number of his students have travelled from Scotland to Japan to aid in designing the ‘cubesat’, set to contain the samples aboard the space mission.

Scientists behind the project expect to find “really bold whiskey” flavours as a result of the experiment.

If proven successful, this could potentially open a new era of spirits production.

Whiskey already commands price tags compared to fellow spirits, with collectors ready to spend hundreds of thousands for some of the rarest Earthly bottles. 

While launching and distilling costs would skyrocket if the mission proves successful, the thought of collectors spending exuberant prices for an outer worldly liquor wouldn’t be an outer worldly thought in itself. 

Dr Bailet says that “centuries of experience” from fellow Scotsmen could help bring “this whiskey experience into space”.

The experiment, nicknamed “Space Puffin”, is set to be launched aboard a SpaceX supply mission towards the ISS.