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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 FatPhil on Monday February 06 2017, @01:33PM
My first positive brandy experience was a decade or so ago - we were just about to head off on a road trip with a work-mate, just as the company was dissolving the team, when the driver said "I have a nice bottle of brandy, let's crack it open to remember the good times", to which my immediate response was "don't waste good brandy on me, I'm a whisky person, and hate anything to do with wines". He ignored me, and I will admit that I got enough woodiness that the winey aspects didn't perturb me at all. I actually kinda liked it. Martell VSOP, I think (implying 7 years in oak), but perhaps it was Hennessey - either way a big and popular enough brand for me to be visually familiar with the bottle.
I still shy away from brandies, it's not generally worth the risk, with one exception - Armenian brandy. Sweeter and less harsh than French muck, but just as woody. I suspect neighbouring Caucasian states have their equivalents, and I'd definitely be prepared to give them a go too. A mate here raided his granddad's attic a few years back, and found some Armenian bottles from the 70s. Damn, that was gorgeous. Was probably 5 roubles (I dunno, 20c, or other play money) per bottle when new!
Anyway, I'm growing bored of whisky, and my new thing is Rum. /Old Monk/ from India is surprisingly good, but I'm currently infatuated with /Plantation Signiture Blend Barbados Rum/ with 5 Years in Bourbon and then Cognac casks. only 2/3 of the price of good whisky, but 3/2 times as enjoyable! Even cheaper /Plantation/ rums have been good, whisky's beginning to look like overpriced over-marketted nonsense to me now!
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1) by purple_cobra on Monday February 13 2017, @06:46PM
There's also calvados (apple brandy), slivovitz (plum brandy), etc. Every fruit or vegetable in existence has probably been fermented by somebody somewhere who was in desperate need of escaping reality.
I've been trying to get Serbian slivovitz in the UK with no success; my grandfather was from there and I wanted to try it, but it seems the natives drink it all and don't export any.
In terms of a single malt, I bought a bottle of Aberfeldy 10 recently and it's very good. I'm not someone who could tell you about it's character or nose or whatever, but it is a a smooth, tasty single malt. A friend brought around a bottle of something highly-rated from the Whisky Bible, which I later found out to cost just under a hundred quid a bottle. Was it nice? Yes. 100 quid a bottle nice? Not to me, but taste is, of course, subjective.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday February 14 2017, @11:58AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves