Science Behind ReVerb
The art of distilling and aging spirits has a long and complex history, full of research, science, experimentation, and mistakes. Production of an aged spirit is a game of patience involving environmental manipulation and constant supervision. The product, however, after months, years, or even decades of aging, is well worth the wait.
American whiskey in and of itself has a long history of research and development that has brought world-class whiskeys to the forefront of the lineup of modern-day spirits. The aging process needs to be closely monitored and delicately manipulated and can also get out of the distiller’s control very quickly. In 2006, a Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky was hit by a tornado that ripped their building to shreds but left 25,000 barrels of whiskey undamaged. Eventually, when these barrels were tasted, it appeared that the agitation of the liquor from the tornado had drastically affected the character of the whiskey. CEO and president of Buffalo Trace, Mark Brown, said “It was really good. I mean really good.” To read more about this bizarre occurrence, read this article from The Atlantic.
This natural disaster turned product gold in the craft whiskey category and turned the heads of a lot of industry scientists, seeking the why and how of this end result. To put it simply, a lot of this can be explained by my motion. Agitation of the liquid while it is barrel aging causes the product to change color, flavor, and character. Using what some scientists call sonic aging, the reverberations from sound create an environment similar to what the tornado caused for the Buffalo Trace barrels in 2006. What happens to our rye whiskey and our small batch of bourbon while it’s resting in barrels greatly affects the final outcome.
When our whiskeys are aging, we play bass-heavy music, most commonly EDM, to reverberate our spirits. The liquid physically reacts to the bass, moving backward from the sound and slamming up against the barrel on the opposite side. This force causes more of the oak barrel to react and mix with the product, resulting in a liquid that has been able to extract more from the wood. This means our unique bourbon and rye finishes with a darker color and a flavor more intensified from the vanilla and oak components of the barrel. We may be biased, but we think the final product turns out pretty good because of it.
In the future of ReVerb Distilling, we plan to experiment in our Texas distillery with all kinds of music and watch how our products change with it. We are also going to create batches that are aged to the sound of football games, TED talks, and other sounds that can be played to manipulate our spirits. We’re going to have a lot of fun with it, and we think our music lovers will, too. Follow along by signing up for our newsletter.