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 THE STORY This is the amazing story of a very unique project involving three prestigious companies: the NASA (US National Aeronautics and Space Administration), Ardbeg (well known Islay distillery in Scotland) and NanoRacks (Texas company that design and implement research programs for the ISS, the International Space Station). How come that whisky was related to any space research program?

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Actually, it happens that many things remain to be understood in the aromas and flavours of the beverages and food; the chemical principle involved in the maturation of a whisky was seen as a good way of studying this area. One day, Nanoracks contacted Ardbeg and the pair created an experiment that would be implemented in the International Space Station (ISS). To celebrate this unique and incredible experiemnt, Bill Lumsden, the Ardbeg famous Master Distiller, created a new expression of the distillery: Galileo.

 

THE MAKE

Ardbeg Galileo is composed of a hallmark Ardbeg distilled in 1999, and matured in ex-bourbon barrels as well as ex-Marsala wine barrels from Sicily. Marsala is an Italian wine produced in the Sicily island around the city of Marsala. Like Xeres in Spain, the wine is made of freshly harvested ripe grapes exposed to the sun for two days, which increases the sugar concentration. It is a mutated wine, which means that the fermentation is artificially stopped (by addition of alcohol or sulfur), to keep some of the sugar in the wine. This creates a sweet wine.   Marsala vintage cask

TASTING NOTES

ARDBEG Galileo, 46% ABV

Nose: Peat and smoke are coming heavy of course, with a very nice fruitiness (ripe plums and red grapes). The wood is there in the form of charred oak combined with some leaf and spices appearing a bit later. Palate: Very well balanced, with nice sweetness (but not too sweet), saltiness, smokiness and spiciness. Beside the smoke and the seaweed, you get some sweet vanilla and almond, with some nice citrus notes bringing some freshness. A mix of blond tobacco and tea leaves plays along quite well. Finish: Long and rich, salty and spicy with an intensity that fades out gently. My take: No wonder why it has been awarded as best single malt of the world in 2013: it is a blessing, to enjoy preferably in a quiet and friendly atmosphere to get the best out of it.

THE AWARD

  Awarded the world’s best single malt of the year 2013. This was a great relief for the Scottish pride, as the Japanese whiskies had surpassed all the other nations in 2012 (Yamazaki 25 years old).

ARDBEG IN THE SPACE, THE FULL STORY

 

THE AIM

Understand the effect of micro-gravity on the maturation of a whisky, and analyze the various flavor components.

THE METHODOLOGY

The only way you measure a difference is by comparison. It was then essential that the experiment was conducted rigorously in parallel, both in space and on Earth. A small (!) challenge came along the way, maturation for whisky is operated through a sizable cask that is not compatible with the very limited weight one can carry into space. The combined brains of the whisky specialists and the space scientists overcame the challenge by  designing brilliantly this smart experiment: The maturation is indeed processed from contact between wood and new make spirit. The idea came that instead of having the spirit within the wood, the wood could be within the liquid. They thought of using charred oak wood shavings coming from an ex-Bourbon barrel to be mixed with the Ardbeg new make spirit, both in very small amounts. The experiment was almost ready to go, as another challenge remained.   For the experiment to be scientifically sound, the two components (wood and spirit) have to be mixed at the exact same time, one on Earth and one in space. They used a special technology, the Nanoracks Mixticks(R) represented in the picture on the left. The stick is divided into three compartments separated from each other by a glass dividing partition. The wood shavings were put at one end, and the liquid (6 ml of Ardbeg new make spirit) at the other end, the middle compartment being used for fuller separation and future mix. All lights were green, it was time to start. After three days on space, the GO signal was given for the experiment activation: the dividers broke at the exact same time on Earth and in space, allowing the two separate components to mix together in the sticks. This made history; it was the very first whisky (and any other spirit) maturation happening in space. What a day!

THE JOURNEY OF THE WHISKY

   The experiment lasted 971 days, almost three years. For the space experiment, the altitude was comprised between 200 and 270 miles, at a speed allowing 15 to 16 orbits around the Earth per day. Not any whisky or spirit has ever had this amazing journey!

THE ANALYSIS

The analysis of the multiple micro-gravity and control samples were conducted in two ways:

• Chemical, with a combination of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.
• Organoleptic, at the Ardbeg sensory laboratory using nosing and tasting glasses by experts. The famous triangle tests was used for detailed aroma and flavor descriptions.

THE RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

Interestingly, the phenolic compounds (creating the smokiness of the Ardbeg spirit) was not modified in the ISS and Earth samples. The most significant variable was related to the wood extractives, meaning the components of the wood (lignin and its breakdown products) that affect the taste of the whisky. These components were present in higher concentrations in the control samples than in the space samples.This indicates that conditions of micro-gravity have inhibited the extraction of lignin from oak. The difference was noted similarly on another aspect: in normal maturation conditions, the charred wood is helping to remove some unwanted compounds in the spirit, the tannin breakdown products. In the analysis, the ISS samples were richer in these compounds. All of this shows that the gravity is critical to the positive interaction between spirit and wood. Barrels in space are not for tomorrow!

A FINAL NOTE

I had a discussion on this very matter with Bill Lumsden. He acknowledged also that he found unknown flavors in the ISS sample. For Bill Lumsden, “unknown flavor” is a BIG thing. On a regular day, he would taste about 150 samples of whisky, which is what he did for more than twenty years: you can do the maths, he has tasted everything that can be tasted! But when speaking about this exciting tasting discovery, he had a mix feeling: the excitement of an innovation was balanced with its downside: for the time being, it is not possible to scale up such a production in space… Future will tell whether a space whisky will be one day available at the supermarket.       A lively discussion with Bill Lumsden

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