Tasting whiskey usually means enjoying flavors created from the interaction between spirit and barrel over an extended period of time. However, some companies are rethinking this traditional narrative.
Endless West, a San Francisco-based startup, recently launched a spirit made without the use of tried and true techniques, like barrel aging, in a process the company labels note-by-note production. Billed as the world’s first “molecular whiskey,” Glyph is not just a symbol of what happens when science, alcohol, and ambition meet, but what might attract future generations of drinkers to the products they purchase. But what does whiskey made in a lab actually involve?
At Endless West, note-by-note production is a three-stage process, beginning with mapping the molecules that give fine whiskeys their unique tasting profiles. To do this, their team studies the molecules found in currently available whiskey and spirits, analyzing what characteristics differentiate one whiskey from another.
Once specific molecules are identified, the next phase is locating and acquiring them in their purest forms, such as sugar from corn or esters from fruit. Everything is sourced naturally from plants, yeasts, and fruits as opposed to using artificial ingredients.
The final step involves using the chosen molecules along with a neutral grain spirit as a base to build the flavor profile of a whiskey.
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