(Newser)
– Most people want to go back in time. Among whiskey makers, a search has evolved to speed it up. Last fall, Silicon Valley startup Bespoken Spirits made headlines by raising $ 2.6 million in initial funding to introduce a rapid aging process that would prevent whiskey from maturing in barrels, which usually takes at least three years . It is an evolution that Bespoken said could recover $ 20 billion a year for the whiskey industry, according to Phys.org. “This is accelerated maturation 2.0,” said co-founder Stuart Aaron at the time. Now the New York Times takes a closer look at Bespoken and other companies like it, the history of whiskey aging and the technology they are now using to carry out a virtually nocturnal process. Typically, whiskey remains in oak barrels for a few years to a few decades, and as the seasons change and temperatures rise and fall, the whiskey is pushed in and out of the barrel wood, which increases the flavor and color of the liquid.
Whiskey makers are now avoiding this longer process. Bespoken, for example, throws tiny wood chips called “microwaves”, made from various kinds of wood (that is, not just oak) into a steel tank, along with un aged whiskey. The workers then increase and decrease the heat and pressure inside the tank, achieving the same “aging” effect in a fraction of the time. Other manufacturers shed light on the wood to affect its molecular structure or “reverse engineer” the process using natural sources such as yeast and plants. One company, Endless West, says it can create a copy of the 30-year-old Balvenie single malt whiskey, which sells for $ 1,300 or more, and sell it for about $ 40. Connoisseurs say whiskeys fast aging are not quite up to the traditionally aged, but that may not matter. “A whiskey like Bespoken’s doesn’t have to taste like the best bourbon to be successful,” Times grades. “It just needs to be better than the worst, at a competitive price.” (Read more whiskey stories.)