Incidentally, I have been doing this for making bitters for years. I have an ultrasonic cleaner and I fill it with a warm water. Then I put liquor and flavorings in a jar - sometimes grain alcohol, sometimes 151, sometimes strong bourbon, depending on the intended result - and hit it with ultrasound for about 30 minutes at 100F. I make about 2-3 fluid ounces at a time and it works great. Not sure I'd call it (Aging), but it certainly does infuse things well. for certain things, like fresh rosemary, you can see the oils separating from the leaves as soon as the ultrasonic starts. it is nearly instantaneous.<p>I suspect that the time is a function of surface area. If instead of wood chips they used shavings, I'd bet that they could take the time down even further.
This reminds me of some of the goofy aging snake-oil techniques that audiophile-type guitarists try on their guitars. Putting them in vibrating jigs and stuff. That said, if there's a way to significantly tighten / age / enhance the density or resonance of wood using some kind of technique, that's pretty awesome. Then drink aged liquor before playing on aged guitar. Win-win.
I wonder if thats part of the process that is used in the Lost Spirits Distillery uses: <a href="https://www.wired.com/2015/04/lost-spirits/" rel="nofollow">https://www.wired.com/2015/04/lost-spirits/</a><p>Disclaimer: I've purchased some of their Navy Strength rum, and it was incredible. Aging liquor may become a thing of the past.
I'm curious, it doesn't mention anything about oxidisation, which I thought was pretty important in ageing in casks and I think may be hard to emulate.<p>Edit: It does mention about acetic acid increasing though interestingly.<p>According to wikipedia "Ethanol can be oxidized to acetaldehyde and further oxidized to acetic acid", so I'd be interested to know more about how it is formed in this case.<p>It does seem like there are lots of other by-products of oxidation though:<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23143031_Isolation_and_Structure_of_Whiskey_Polyphenols_Produced_by_Oxidation_of_Oak_Wood_Ellagitannins" rel="nofollow">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23143031_Isolation_...</a>
Also good for drying clothes efficiently[0], with the unfortunate side effect of also weakening and undoing the seams...<p>[0] <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2016/06/21/technology/ultrasonic-dryer/" rel="nofollow">http://money.cnn.com/2016/06/21/technology/ultrasonic-dryer/</a>
This reminds me of something I encountered when I used to work in a wine store, which was a sort of copper wand that you would place in a glass of wine and it would "age" the wine. At first I assumed this was snake oil bullshit, but after some research, it turned out there was actually a well documented reaction whereby (IIRC) copper catalyzes the conversion of alcohols into certain ketones and aldehydes, mimicking part of the natural oxidation process.
Not sure if the tech is the same but Cleveland Whiskey does something similar and is already on the market. Disclaimer: I invested through YC company Wefunder.
Relativity Whiskey is doing a similar thing (not the same process, just speed-aging): <a href="https://www.relativity-whiskey.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.relativity-whiskey.com</a><p>I've had it, and it's very convincing. I'm not an expert by any means, but I doubt I would be able to tell it apart from truly aged whiskey.
The TV show Moonshiners has been dealing with accelerated aging processes recently. The method used by a pair of the moonshiners was to highly electrically charge charred wood immersed in the alcohol.<p>At least according to the show, the two "inventors" had a patent on their method. They were allegedly getting two years of aging in two days.
I could have 100 year old scotch in just 150 days? Hoorah!!!<p>Oh, wait. This is just based on subjective taste? Well, everyone knows that people, in general, don't have any...
If this had been a conclusion reached as a result of careful analysis, then I'd be interested. Relying on people to taste-test a difference is just a broadly pointless exercise I think, and doesn't really prove the conclusion the headline is selling.