Famous Japanese distillery, Suntory, is sending a few of its world-renowned whiskey on a mission to outer space. The Tokyo-based Suntory announced over the weekend that they want to observe the effects of zero-gravity on whiskey's aging process.
Japanese beverage giant Suntory Holdings Ltd. Will reportedly send six whiskey samples, as well as their other alcoholic beverages, to the International Space Station (ISS) the following month, where they will stay the course of a year.
A Suntory spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that of the samples being sent to space, a 21-year-old single malt and a distilled drink are included. The alcoholic beverages will reportedly be launched August 16 from the Tanegashima Space Center. From there, they will be destined for the Japanese Experiment Module aboard the ISS.
The company spokesman also said that the samples will be sent in glass flasks.
The aim of the "whiskey aging in space" experiment is to find out if whiskey would become "mellower," meaning it will taste smoother; if aged in an environment where temperature, convection of fluids and shaking, changes minimally, according to Fox News.
Most alcoholic drinks taste mellower with time. However, the mechanisms by which that occurs remain unknown. Research conducted by Japanese scientists have shown that environments which suppress liquid convection can affect the mellowing process, according to Suntory in its press release.
First samples of the Suntory whiskey will return to Earth after a year, while the other samples will remain on ISS for two years at least.
While many may be excited to taste the whiskey aged in space, Suntory said they have no plans to sell the drinks after they come back home to Earth, according to The Verge.
The Philly Voice reported that as the samples return to our planet, they will be sent to labs to be studied. They will be tested by whiskey blenders in order to compare their taste to beverages aged on Earth.
The space-aged whiskey experiment marks yet another milestone in Suntory's international profile. Japan's oldest whiskey distillery, Suntory's Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 was hailed by British whiskey writer Jim Murray as the best whisky in the world last year.
