Japanese whisky makes space trip

When Japan's Kounotori5 spacecraft heads to the International Space Station (ISS) later this month, it'll be carrying some unusual cargo on board.

One of the country's biggest drinks makers, Suntory Holdings, intends to send glass flasks of its whisky into space as part of an experiment to test the "development of mellowness."

The company struck a deal with Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency, allowing it to store a number of liquid samples in "Kibo," the Japanese laboratory aboard the ISS.

Suntory said it would send five types of distilled spirits to the lab - including whisky aged 10, 18 and 21 years - to gauge how an environment with only slight temperature changes and limited liquid movement impacts the aging or mellowing process many alcoholic beverages go through.

One group of samples will remain in space for at least a year before returning to earth, while a second batch will stay there for at least two years. Another set of identical samples will be kept on the ground in Japan for the same period of time.

Once the whisky returns from its space trip, experts will begin taste tests and scientific analysis to compare the samples with those aged in Japan. A Suntory spokeswoman told news agency AFP there were no plans to make the space-aged whisky available to the public.

Suntory's Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 was named the best in the world by the prestigious Jim Murray's 2015 Whisky Bible.

nm/ng (AFP)