New Whisky bacteria to boost whisky aging

Two Israeli Scientists from the Weizmann institute of Science at Rehovot (a leading Israeli research institution) might have found a bacteria that will change whisky industry as we know it today. The two scientists while researching Aerobic bacteria, came across a whole new specie which was unknown to science , and after accidentally putting it into a wooden cask that held an alcoholic substance, were amazed at what they discovered. This bacteria still called Bd-vxd-he109 (a temporary name), and nicknamed “The whisky Bacteria” works its magic by releasing some unusual enzymes into their surrounding, which scientists think are meant to break down alcohol molecules and change them into a substance the bacteria can feed on, a aside effect of which, is rapid maturation of whisky and spirits in the cask. According to observations held in recent weeks, it seems that by adding bacteria of this kind to a cask containing whisky / cognac or the like, maturation speeds up tenfold, so after only 1 month in the cask, the spirit has picked up color taste and aromas from the wood equivalent of a year’s time. Prof Mahir who led the team of researchers who made this discovery explains:

“We’ve found out that the addition of this bacteria into wooden casks filled with spirit, speeds up maturation immensely. This discovery might very much change the face of the whisky and Cognac industry allowing for much shorter maturation times, achieving the same effect, without harming the quality of the spirit aging inside the cask. We are currently working closely with a few distilleries in Scotland that have agreed to try an insert the bacteria into one or two of their aging casks, and we’ll be monitoring the process very closely for the next year, to see if the end product is indeed as mature as an equivalent 10 year old cask”.

As we all know, scotch has to be aged at least for 3 years before it can be called whisky, and given this process, a whisky aged for 3 years might be equivalent to whisky aged 30 years old using “classical” aging methods. This method should also affect the cost of maturing whisky, if spirit can attain maturity in a shorted time, prices should be dropping for whiskies aged in that method, as they are only stored for a few years in warehouses, but display the characters of older whisky. It is yet to be seen how maturing whisky using this method for long years (10-20) will affect whisky, but only time will tell.

in addition It has yet to be see how the SWA will react towards this new and exciting method of speedy aging. Until now it has been very conservative regarding new methods of maturation, such as adding wooden staves to casks, but adding a living organism to the cask has never been tried before.

These are certainly exciting times.

Slainte!