A group of whiskey distillers are breaking from tradition in all the right ways.
Batch #1: BLACKENED AMERICAN WHISKEY
Ultimate Heavy Metal Mash-up
Imagine a glass of water sitting next to a giant speaker and convulsing with the thump of each beat—doomph, doomph, doomph. That movement is, essentially, the idea behind Blackened American Whiskey, a collaboration between metal masters Metallica and the late master distiller Dave Pickerell. The company calls the process Black Noise. It’s a way to enhance the aging process of its whiskey through what’s called “acoustic cavitation,” wherein low-frequency soundwaves—emanating in this case from custom-designed Meyer Sound subwoofers—lead to the formation of tiny, air-filled cavities in the whiskey that subsequently implode. When that happens against the side of a barrel, it allows the whiskey to penetrate the charred insides like tiny liquid needles, artificially accelerating the aging process. It may sound like a gimmick, but the results for Blackened are deep, dark, and delicious.
