Development of a predictive computational model of whisky flavour compound extraction from wood as a function of environmental conditions

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Odd Society Spirits is a small batch distiller in Vancouver BC specializing in the production of premium whiskies, gins, and liquors with a strong sense of place. They make all of their product on site and sell both through their tasting room and through a number of BC alcohol retailers. This grant supports a new partnership between the Distillery and the University of Windsor to use modern computational methods to better determine what impact various environmental and maturation conditions will have on the ageing of a spirit in a barrel. Whisky maturation is a complex process through which the complex flavour compounds in the oak are slowly extracted into the spirit by the alcohol. Better understanding how this process works will help the distillery better determine the type of barrel to be used and will provide improved confidence in selecting the types of barrels to be used for spirits that will be aged for a long time. Central to this work is the close collaboration between the academic and industrial partners. The distillers at the company (including a PhD in chemistry and an MSc from Heriot-Watt University, the world's current leading institution for spirits research) will provide experimental data to train and validate the computational model being developed by Dr. Gauld. This project is expected to provide a useful predictive tool that will provide distillers with additional confidence that their raw spirit will age in the expected fashion decreasing the risk involved in preparing older, more complicated spirits. This certainty will provide a better product and allow the company to expand their staff faster than otherwise expected.