Now this is an effort we can get behind. Ballantine’s Whisky has partnered with Open Space Agency to create a whisky glass that works in microgravity. With the advent of space tourism soon upon us, it couldn’t come a moment too soon.

To assist the world’s No.2 Scotch whisky brand in creating a whisky glass fit for space, Ballantine’s enlisted two authorities in their fields. First up is James Parr, head of the Open Space Agency, who led the design and build of the glass, and is convinced it heralds a new era of open-source space design.

Parr said that as well as working in space, the whisky glass had to do its duty on Earth too. This causes extensive science and engineering challenges over a twelve month period. Having successfully engineered and tested the Space Glass prototype in micro gravity at the ZARM Drop Tower in Bremen, Germany, the glass is now ready for lift-off.  

3D Tumbler

The ‘glass’ itself is however, not made of glass, but rather it is 3D-printed with medical grade plastic into a tumbler shape. The key technology sits inside the glass, where small channels in the side move liquid from the convex stainless steel base coated in rose gold, which the liquid sticks to, around to a mouthpiece. This is made of gold, as it is non-reactive, and is from where the user drinks.

To deal with the microgravity conditions of spaceflight, the Ballantine’s Space Glass contains a magnet at its base, allowing it to attach to whisky bottles customised with their own magnets and a bespoke nozzle or “straw” to deliver whisky into the glass. Once inside, in microgravity, the whisky wouldn't ‘bounce around as a blob’, but stick to the base and deliver liquid into the channels.

Space Whisky

Also pegged to help was Sandy Hyslop, Ballantine’s Master Blender, who subsequently crafted a special batch of Ballantine’s Scotch whisky that accounts for the way people's taste buds are affected in space.

"In space, you do not experience the sense of smell and taste with the same intensity as you do on Earth,” says Hyslop. “This meant I had to make the Ballantine’s Space Whisky more heightened in flavour and robust whilst maintaining the Ballantine’s signature style.”

“We engaged with this project because it seemed there were genuine problems to solve,” explains Parr. “We wanted to determine whether or not there are real aspects of design that would be making a contribution,” he continues. “The way liquids behave and are controlled in space is one of the fundamental challenges of space exploration; one of the fundamental things on which rocket scientists have worked so hard. As soon as you get out of earth’s gravity, liquids don’t behave as liquids should.”  

Ballantine’s believe that even though the glass can withstand the rigours of outer space, it still has the “ritual of the sophisticated whisky drinking experience” at its heart. Now how about one on the rocks?