Accelerating Techniques for Whisky Maturation : Effect of heat, iron and light on the maturation process

Abstract: The maturation of whisky is a long and complex process, the extremely long waiting time causes a large cost for new whisky distilleries, and without sufficient funding, it is hard to start a whisky business. To produce satisfying whisky products within the short term, accelerating the reaction during aging provides a promising approach. Various chemical reactions take place during this stage, this project aims to investigate how heat, light, and iron catalyst affect these reactions. A temperature chamber was used to perform heat treatment. The source of light was a plasma lamp that simulate solar light. Ferrous sulfate was chosen as the source of iron. Also, Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy was utilized to collect the absorbance of each sample to evaluate the effect of these treatments on the content of total phenolic compounds. On the other hand, to evaluate the impact of these treatments on whisky maturation, the contents of six phenolic compounds (gallic acid, vanillic acid, vanillin, caffeic acid, trans-ferulic acid, and trans-cinnamic acid) derived from the wood were considered a key indicator since these phenolic compounds make an important contribution to the development of flavor and aroma of whisky. And HPLC-DAD was chosen as the analytical method for identifying and quantifying these phenolic compounds. The results found a good correlation between the heat treatment and the generation of phenolic compounds, but the current results are insufficient to conclude that the light treatment can improve the maturation of whisky. In addition, the iron catalyst does not show any beneficial behavior, and the high concentration of iron even decreased the content of phenolic compounds.