Whiskey Tastes Different When Aged in Space

Whiskey that is aged in space tastes decidedly different from whiskey that has aged on Earth.

Ardberg Distillery had sent a small vial of its whiskey to the International Space Station way back in October of 2011 and the sampling has recently made its way back to earth, according to the BBC.

The company also set aside a sample of whiskey from the same batch to ensure the taste comparisons were as close as possible. The taster who had both samples said the one that aged in an environment of zero gravity was unique in both terms of taste and smell.

The taster said that the sample aged on Earth was woody and sweet, invoking raisins and vanilla and slightly smoky taste. The space sample was very smoky and tasted of smoked prunes or raisins, while it also had a unique perfumed smell.

The vial was launched into space from the Baikonur, Kazakhstan, which is often used to supply the International Space Station.

NASA and other space organizations are intensely interested in the impact of space on things like agriculture and human biology. This interest has only grown as the idea of sending humans to Mars to live and explore has increased in popularity.

For this reason, NASA has sent Commander Scott Kelly on a year-long mission to the space station to monitor the impact of spending prolonged periods of time in space. Even on shorter deployments, astronauts must work out to maintain muscle mass that dissipates because of the lack of gravity.

Kelly was chosen for the mission because he has a twin brother and NASA can compare the two of them when Scott returns home.