Disruptive technology may change the whisk(e)y industry

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Endless West, based in San Francisco, has done away with barrel-ageing whiskies entirely

to imagine a manufacturing process more sluggish than making whiskies. The most revered are aged for between 10 and 20 years. Innovation has also been slow. The last big breakthrough, patented in 1830, was a more efficient still. Barrel-ageing, which takes place after distillation, has been around for centuries. Without it the liquid has no colour and is unpalatable. Nor can it be called whisky under Scottish law.

Josh Decolongon, Endless West’s chief product officer, says a compound called 4-ethylguaiacol transports him to, “a chilly holiday night spent indoors...burning logs and sweet spices”. Ethyl butanoate, on the other hand, he associates with candied apples, tropical fruit or perhaps grapes. Mr Decolongon and his team use a mixture of techniques, including distillation and solvent partitioning to extract these and other compounds from things like plants, yeasts and barrel wood.

Lost Spirits’ founder, Bryan Davis, says this tiny lead time means manufacturers could use his machines to experiment rapidly with all sorts of new flavours. For mass production, the cost of the process is unlikely to compete with the economies of scale found at the low end of the market. But he sees a benefit at the high end, and reckons he can produce, for around $50, bottles that if made conventionally would cost around $250.

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But it will imbue the whisky with bad taste.

Dubstep is universally recognized as the key to successful maturation.

I like the sound of this brand. Gonna have to look them up.

The Japanese producers of whiskey only have to say it is produced in Japan. No other regulations or requirements, results; some of the finest whiskey in the world. Time is too precious to waste on antique requirements.

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