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As brandies age, chemical interactions between the spirits and the wood casks they mature in grant them their distinctive hues, scents and tastes. These reactions are slow, and aging high-quality brandy currently takes several years.
Previous research found that ultrasound waves can help extract chemicals from plant tissues. Ultrasounds are pressure waves that cause tissues to rupture, releasing bioactive compounds stored within cells at a higher rate. As such, researchers wanted to see if ultrasound waves could help accelerate the aging of brandy.
The scientists flowed distilled wine through American oak chips. As the wine seeped past the wooden chips, the researchers blasted it with ultrasound waves. The researchers found that after only three days of ultrasound treatment, they produced spirits that were similar to brandies aged for years. The scientists will detail their findings in the May issue of the journal Ultrasonics Sonochemistry.
"Obtaining, in three days, a spirit with characteristics near to two-years-aged brandies was something really unexpected for us," says study co-author Valme García, a professor at the University of Cádiz in Spain.
Eight trained judges, including some of the researchers, deemed the resulting spirits nearly as good as traditional brandies. "They tasted surprisingly well, with good fruity and sweet flavors and a high aromatic intensity," García said.
Source: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/02/03/ultrasound-waves-wine-brandy/
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday February 06 2017, @04:14PM
I do not care much for the age, as long as it is at least ten years. I tried some 16 year old, but don't feel the higher price is fully justified by the difference in taste.
Age does different things to different whiskies. In general, it tends to "take the edge off" the harsher ones. If you're into real peaty Scotch, Laphroaig 10-year is quite the monster, but have it in a somewhat older version, and it mellows out a bit. Personally, if I'm drinking Laphroaig, I'm doing it because I want that shocking flavor, so I wouldn't generally pay for the older version. Generally speaking, you're right that stuff that's past 10 years is generally beyond the harsh notes of younger stuff (though even in younger stuff, the quarter-cask varieties of some whiskies speed up the aging a bit). A good master blender can get also balance out a lot of flavors with a 10-year+. (Yes, I know you're talking about single malt, but single malt is still frequently blended across casks/barrels from the same distillery to achieve a consistent and balanced product. That's why single barrel whiskies are often more of a gamble.)
Anyhow, my point here was to say that the difference between a 10-year-old and a 16+-year-old is going to vary significantly depending on distillery. In some cases, I think the flavor difference is really significant (and worth the price), in other cases it's not as much, and in a few cases (e.g., Laphroaig, as stated above), I actually prefer the younger version. But I do agree with you that sherry cask finishing is often a good thing.
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Monday February 06 2017, @08:14PM
If you're into real peaty Scotch, Laphroaig 10-year is quite the monster, but have it in a somewhat older version, and it mellows out a bit.
Laphroaig is actually the only single malt scotch I could name that I do not like :-) I'm a bit into peaty (Ardmore is very peaty, Ardbeg is also nice, Bowmore is good but imo a little less peaty). But somehow, Laphroaig has for me always a medical taste, like disinfectant. (I know it is a quality Whisky and has many fans, some of my colleagues among them...)
(Yes, I know you're talking about single malt,
Not only. I was specifically mentioning Monkey Shoulder as a good blended malt. Actually, I have a bottle in my mini-bar.
But I do agree with you that sherry cask finishing is often a good thing.
I have a nice bottle Macallan Fine Oak, triple cask matured, in front of me... ~80€ / 0.7l
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday February 07 2017, @06:45AM
Laphroaig isn't my drink of choice, either. It's a bit too much for me usually, though once in a while I like it for the contrast. I've never bought an entire bottle of it for myself.
The reason I brought it up, though, was because it's one of the scotches where I feel longer aging beyond 10 years makes the most difference. If you don't like the "medical taste" of Laphroaig (which is typically 10-year), try an older version sometime when you have a chance. (Don't buy a whole bottle -- find a friend who has it, or a really nice scotch bar.) I found the 18-year-old to be significantly different, without that almost overpowering harshness. But I think the 18 has become hard to find recently and replaced... with a 15 or 16? Anyhow, I haven't had the "new" older one, but I assume it will still be somewhat muted.
You mentioned Bowmore and also sherry casks -- have you had the "Bowmore Darkest," which is a 15-year-old released a few years back? I'd recommend it. It has more depth and peat than "normal" Bowmore, but still more balanced to my taste than some of the more "peat-monster" distilleries. It's been one of my favorites, which I happened upon completely by chance several years back.