Temperature, humidity and air pressure can affect the production and taste of whisky/whiskey. Now some distillers are using monitoring systems to help get the most from the aging process, according to an article in BBC Future.

In parts of the USA, such as Texas, which as extreme summer temperatures, shorter maturation times are required, but also more loss incurs due to water evaporation, driving up the overall ABV percentage.

According to the article, distillers have understood the relationship between storage temperature and alcohol for some time. Whiskey-makers at a Louisville, Kentucky distillery reported in 1942 that oak barrels could be regarded as “exceedingly poor containers” from a storage point of view due to the amount of whiskey that soaks into the wood or evaporates. Imagine opening a cask after months or years of maturation and finding the vast majority of the liquid gone.

But since barrel aging is such an integral part of whiskey production, the distillers experimented with lowering the warehouse temperature and found they could reduce this loss drastically.

Fortunately, whiskey makers today have access to more meteorological and climate data than ever before. 

For the full article which also has insight from Scotland and Ireland, go here.