It'll be auctioned for charity shurly?
Jim Beam me up, Scotty! WHISKY from SPAAACE returns to Earth
A Scottish distillery is celebrating the return of the first ever space-matured batch of whisky. Back in 2011, the Islay-based Ardbeg distillery sent several vials of whisky to the International Space Station, where they were spun around the earth at 17,227 mph, orbiting 15 times a day for almost three years. The astronauts …
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Tuesday 28th October 2014 16:48 GMT Oliver 7
Re: Shame it's Ardbeg
Peated whisky can be an acquired taste but, believe me, it can be acquired. Traditionally the sweet sherry-casked whisky of Speyside was touted to American and Japanese markets for its easy-drinking qualities but, increasingly, whisky aficionados seek out the smokiest expressions such as Laphroaig and Ardbeg from the tiny island of Islay. The island has eight distilleries and the peat there has a unique 'medicinal' character.
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Wednesday 29th October 2014 00:03 GMT dan1980
Re: Shame it's Ardbeg
Lagavulin for me, thanks. Though I am rather partial to Ardbeg. Laphroaig not as much.
But, different types go well at different times and for different moods. The sweeter, honey-vanilla of a Balvenie or Aberlour are sometimes just what the doctor ordered, and certainly doesn't make my partner's nose turn up like the peaty-iodine onslaught of some of my other standards!
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Thursday 30th October 2014 10:18 GMT Brenda McViking
Re: Shame it's Ardbeg
Some of you might find the Scottish Whisky Flavour Map of interest.
Personally, I really like Ardbeg, but it's not something I'd necessarily reccommend to someone if they've never tried a proper single malt before - Glenmorangie would be my choice for the beginner just starting out.
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Tuesday 28th October 2014 16:40 GMT Oliver 7
It's just a PR Stunt
http://www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/ardbegsupernova2014.htm
Although none of this whisky has been to space, it comes with a price tag of £124.99, which is a circa £50 mark-up on their last 'committee release'. Lumsden is a very knowledgeable distiller but a shameless marketer.
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Tuesday 28th October 2014 18:35 GMT Chris G
Re: A new market for SpaceX?
So SpaceXXX then?
I have never liked Scotch so I'm unimpressed with this particular space jaunt but I would be very interested if someone would like to pay for me to go up to the ISS with a few kilos of Syrah grapes from Sicily or some Californian Merlot grapes and a couple of demijohns with micro gee air traps. It would be interesting to see how yeast deals with space and micro gee.
Plus getting the must to settle might need a slow centrifuge.
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Wednesday 29th October 2014 04:28 GMT Anonymous Custard
Re: A new market for SpaceX?
I'm wondering more if this might shed some light on the X-37B's secret mission?
2 years enough for some decent maturing of product?
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Wednesday 29th October 2014 00:46 GMT dan1980
@aregross
I believe they were glass vials containing both whisky and oak. As I understand it, the goal was to test interactions of turpene in micro-gravity.
Perhaps the serious side of this has something to do with growing plants in micro-gravity.
Perhaps it's all marketing - it's expensive to run missions to the ISS! - but there is so much we don't know that it's not unimaginable that there are genuine scientists actually interested in what comes of this.
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Wednesday 29th October 2014 11:18 GMT Christoph
What about the next step?
Now they need to investigate what happens when they do the distillation up there as well.
Of course they will have to use a centrifugal still.