Texas researchers seek to redefine U.S. whiskey
Traditionally, alcoholic beverages were shaped by the environment around them.<p>The reason that Scotch Whisky uses peat smoked malt was that there wasn&#x27;t coal available for them to use instead. It was aged in used barrels for economic reasons, rather than taste.<p>It&#x27;s the same for beer, different styles of beer largely came about due to differences in water chemistry.<p>It seems weird to try and artificially define American Whiskey by trying to force a terroir in the product using selective breeding. That&#x27;s backwards from how the process has historically happened, it&#x27;s artificial.<p>The whole artisan American Whiskey market is bullshit anyway. Most &quot;craft distilleries&quot; just buy bulk white spirit or pre-aged spirit from a wholesaler [1], then finish it in their own barrels. The usually use smaller barrels too, to try an impart as much flavour in as short a time, leaving you with an unbalanced whiskey that just tastes like an oak barrel. Sometimes they even use tricks like artificially heating and cooling the ageing warehouse or using ultrasound to try and speed up the process. But you can&#x27;t rush time.<p>In fairness, it&#x27;s not just American Whiskey that has this problem. It&#x27;s luxury spirits as a market. Luxury alcohol is a marketing industry that sells alcohol. Vodka is especially egregious, where the bottle the spirit comes in is often more expensive than the contents. Only 10 of around 130 Scotch Whisky distilleries are independent, the rest owned by international conglomerates like Pernod Ricard.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thedailybeast.com&#x2F;your-craft-whiskey-is-probably-from-a-factory-distillery-in-indiana" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thedailybeast.com&#x2F;your-craft-whiskey-is-probably...</a>