Ardbeg in orbit

With its signature peatiness, Islay single malt whisky is gloriously earth bound, gravity controlled.

However, the renowned Ardbeg distillery has taken to space.

In a two year experiment to test how malt whisky matures in near-zero gravity conditions molecules known as terpenes – aromatic and ‘flavour active’ – composed of elements of  unmatured malt and charred oak was dispatched into space in October 2011 in an unmanned spacecraft.

This is thought to be the first experiment of its kind.

No one has any idea how the molecular elements will interact in space but the hope is that the results will found the development of new products in what will be a direct space-time continuum.

So, tonight when you look skywards you will know that somewhere up there is a branded element of Argyll and the Isles – and in an unmanned craft, there;s no chance of any premature sampling.