Photo: MICHAEL CAMPANELLA/Redferns (Getty Images)
Famed rock band Metallica has partnered with well-known whiskey master distiller Dave Pickerell to create a very unique whiskey called Blackened American Whiskey. If that makes you think, “Oh, another celebrity whiskey with no soul that the band had nothing to do with?” think again. This isn’t just another whiskey from a well-known band, it was literally matured by their music.
Say what? Well, the folks who made this whiskey literally used Metallica’s music to shape the flavor in a patent-pending process they are referring to as BLACK NOISE™. Pickerell, along with Sweet Amber Distilling CEO John Bilello worked together to create this one-of-a-kind whiskey maturation process.
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“The band gave me poetic license with what was inside the bottle,” Pickerell said in a press release. The whiskey itself is a blend of bourbon, rye, and other whiskies from all over the country hand selected by Pickerell. They were all added to black brandy barrels before maturing. And then things get a little wacky.
This maturation process is far from normal. Pickerell wanted to use sound waves in the aging process ever since his days as a student and professor of chemistry at West Point, but the time never seemed right…until now.
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A truly unconventional whiskey of uncompromising quality. #blackenedwhiskey
Meyer Sound was brought in to engineer a subwoofer that could amplify the low frequency sound waves commonly used by the band in its music. After selecting the playlist, the barrels were matured with intense low hertz sound waves designed to add to the molecular interaction and eventual flavor.
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It should be noted that the use of sound waves isn’t a replacement for aging. “We’re not trying to cheat time,” said Pickerell, “This just kicks the finishing process up a notch. The sonic enhancements shake the whiskey molecules to their core. At a low-enough frequency, flavor elements start to work their way out of the barrels and into the blend.”
Blackened American Whiskey is scheduled to be released this month, just in time for the band’s latest tour. If you get your hands on some, you should probably pay tribute to the hard work that went into its creation by sipping it while you turn your speakers all the way up to 11.
