Technology Ages Bourbon in Eight Hours

May 21, 2015 – We all know that the age of a whiskey denotes quality and price.  It means the whiskey has matured in a barrel and the longer it is left there, the smoother and mellower it becomes and the flavor is more nuanced.  Aging in barrels is expensive, tying up capital for years, and there is also evaporation loss (known as “the angel’s share”) hence the higher price.

Enter Terressentia Corporation of Ladson, S.C.  The company’s patented technology TerrePURE can age bourbon in just eight hours.  Earl Hewlette, the company’s CEO explained how it works in a telephone call from Europe this week.

A barrel is really a filter.  As the wood expands and contracts with the fluctuation of the temperature in the warehouse, the harsh and unpleasant tasting alcohols that occur in distillation, are filtered out.  These minor alcohols are also known as congeners and are the major culprits of hangovers.  (Dark spirits and red wine have more congeners than say vodka, gin and white wine.)

By using ultrasonic energy, applied with oxygenation after standard distillation, TerrePURE filters away the bad tastes in an all-natural process that takes just eight hours.
We asked how it is possible to use the term “bourbon” since in 1964 Congress legislated that the whiskey had to be aged in new charred oak barrels.  The law does not stipulate how long it has to be barrel aged.  Earl Hewlette explained that they use whiskey that has been in barrel about six months.  By then it has acquired a good color and taste.  No coloring or any additives of any kind are used.  They can use oak staves to provide an oakier flavor, which is perfectly legal and a process that is quite widely used in the spirits and wine industries, especially for less expensive brands.  The one problem this innovative technology does not solve is the shortage of white oak barrels.  The rules specify “new charred oak barrel” which cannot be reused for bourbon.
At the present time, Terressentia’s production goes to private label spirits or is sold in bulk.  In addition to whiskey, the company makes vodka, tequila, gin and rum.  In taste tests and competitions around the world, their products have garnered more than 80 medals.  As Hewlette pointed out, and the critics agree, bourbon using the TerrePURE method of aging is not competing with Pappy Van Winkle but their spirit does compare well against four-year aged product.

Tom Fischer, founder of Bourbonblog.com, was recently quoted on NPR that in blind tastings of five or six different whiskeys at the South Carolina distillery, he ranked the Terressentia bourbon right at the top, either number one or two saying, “And these were some major bourbons.

Soon there will be a brand available in the United States.  Last year the company purchased the Charles Medley Distillery in historic Owensboro, KY.  Restoration is in process and the new facility will be open in 2016. Ty Tyler, the company founder and co-inventor of TerrePURE would be proud.  Among his many revolutionary inventions were the patented coating that eliminated the metallic taste of soft drinks stored in cans, indoor-outdoor carpeting, washable wallpaper, and outdoor latex paint. But for Ty Tyler, finding a solution to the extensive aging of spirits was a lifetime dream and his crowing achievement.