Ardbeg's International Space Station whisky test could have 'significant implications' for industry

Ardbeg Distillery, the company that sent unmatured malt whisky into space in 2011 to examine the role zero-gravity plays on its taste, has released its "groundbreaking" results from the experiment.

In October 2011, the Scottish distillery sent a vial of its product to the International Space Station (ISS) and kept a vial of the same unmatured malt whisky on earth with the aim of comparing the two after several years.

The product was returned home last year and Ardbeg says the taste was "noticeably different" and could have "significant implications for the whisky industry". Its director of distillery said: "The space samples were noticeably different. When I nosed and tasted the space samples, it became clear that much more of Ardbeg's smoky, phenolic character shone through - to reveal a different set of smoky flavours which I have not encountered here on earth before.

"Ardbeg already has a complex character, but the results of our experiment show that there is potentially even more complexity that we can uncover, to reveal a different side to the whisky.

"Our findings may also one day have significant implications for the whisky industry as a whole. In the future, the altered range of wood extractions could lead scientists to be able to detail the ratios of compounds expected in whiskies of a certain age."