To remain in space for a period of 1-2 years.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Suntory Holdings Ltd., the Japanese brewing and distilling company behind the highest rated whisky in the world, plans to expand its brewing and distilling horizons by sending its alcohol into space.
The Japanese brewing and distilling company said this week it would send a total of six samples of its whiskies and other alcoholic beverages to the International Space Station, where they will be kept for at least a year to study the effect zero gravity has on aging, reported the Wall Street Journal.
According to a spokesman at the company, the samples, which will be carried in glass flasks, will include both a 21-year-old single malt and a beverage that has just been distilled.
Research has indicated that that whisky aged in an environment with little temperature change, convection of fluids, and shaking tends to be become “mellower,” he said, so the company is curious to discern how zero-gravity affects the taste of their products.
The samples will be carried to the space station on Aug. 16 on Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s transfer vehicle Kounotori. The first samples will return to Earth in about a year, while the rest will remain in space for at least two years.
Unfortunately for those who’d like to try some for themselves, there are no plans to commercialize the space-aged whisky. The samples will be studied in labs once they return to Earth, where expert whisky blenders will taste them to compare them with those aged on the ground.
Suntory stole the thunder out from under the makers of fine scotch late last year when “Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2015,” a highly regarded ranking of fine global whisky, gave top billing to Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013.
The “Whisky Bible” described the winning Yamazaki whisky as “rich and fruity,” with a nose of “exquisite boldness” and finish of “light, teasing spice,” according to Time. Despite its highly rated taste, Suntory, Japan’s oldest whisky distillery, only produced 18,000 bottles of the award-winning spirit.