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Nuclear bomb tests help to identify fake whisky
Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | May 2, 2009 | Richard Gray

Posted on 05/02/2009 11:45:37 PM PDT by Schnucki

Radioactive material flung into the atmosphere by nuclear bomb tests is helping scientists to fight the multi-million pound trade in counterfeit antique malt whisky.

Bottles of vintage whisky can sell for thousands of pounds each, but industry experts claim the market has been flooded with fakes that purport to be several hundred years old but instead contain worthless spirit that was made just a few years ago.

Scientists have found, however, that minute levels of radioactive carbon absorbed by the barley as it grew before it was harvested to make the whisky can betray how old it is.

Researchers at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, which is funded by the National Environmental Research Council, discovered that they could pinpoint the date a whisky was made by detecting traces of radioactive particles created by nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s.

They can also use natural background levels of radioactivity to identify whiskies that were made in earlier centuries.

Dr Tom Higham, deputy director of the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, said: "It is easy to tell if whisky is fake as if it has been produced since the middle of the twentieth century, it has a very distinctive signature.

"With whiskies that are older, we can get a range of dates but we can usually tell which century it came from. The earliest whisky we have dated came from the 1700s and most have been from 19th century.

"So far there have probably been more fakes among the samples we've tested than real examples of old whisky."

The technique the scientists use is known as radiocarbon dating and is more commonly used by archaeologists to date ancient fragments of bone and wood.

It relies upon the fact that all living organisms absorb low levels of a radioactive isotope known as carbon 14,

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: nuclear; whiskey
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Pipes and Drums of FreeRepublic ping!

This is an ultra-low-volume ping list (typically weeks to months between pings, for matters related to Highland bagpipes and Scotland).
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this list.

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41 posted on 05/04/2009 11:14:23 AM PDT by sionnsar ((Iran Azadi | 5yst3m 0wn3d - it's N0t Y0ur5 (SONY) | "Also sprach Telethustra" - NonValueAdded)
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To: sionnsar; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ..

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Okay, so, this probably isn't pingworthy for GGG -- still, it's about radiocarbon dating, and I think I got a whiff of booze on someone's breath when I signed on this morning, so...
Scientists have found, however, that minute levels of radioactive carbon absorbed by the barley as it grew before it was harvested to make the whisky can betray how old it is.
Thanks sionnsar!

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
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42 posted on 05/04/2009 11:25:47 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: SeaDragon

goodness


43 posted on 05/04/2009 11:40:27 AM PDT by RikaStrom (Bitter? Who me? Nah, I'm just clinging to my guns!)
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To: Schnucki

Now who said Nuclear Weapons were bad for mankind?


44 posted on 05/04/2009 11:41:07 AM PDT by dfwgator (1996 2006 2008 - Good Things Come in Threes)
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To: sionnsar

Ahh... the water of life.

;-)


45 posted on 05/04/2009 11:42:14 AM PDT by RikaStrom (Bitter? Who me? Nah, I'm just clinging to my guns!)
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To: Cardhu

ping


46 posted on 05/04/2009 11:52:51 AM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 105 of our national holiday from reality.)
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To: null and void
Damn! I did not think you would find out but fake is the only whisky that I can afford. But I do mix it with fake OJ to make it drinkable.

Now my cognac is sort of up there in the medium price range as it is not mixable with anything I like or could make.

Good to hear from you Nully.

47 posted on 05/04/2009 12:05:47 PM PDT by Cardhu (Be happy, today you will be the youngest you will ever be.)
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To: SunkenCiv; Schnucki
Aye but they're after sayin' cold water's protectin'.

Cheers


48 posted on 05/04/2009 12:06:04 PM PDT by Lady Jag (Communism - Hezbollah + Al Qaeda + Obama + StoneAge = CHAOS)
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To: csmusaret
Top, I'll echo NVDave's thoughts on blends. I've tried to find a few that would sit well as an 'everyday' standby - being a cheap so-n-so at heart. Old Grouse settled at the top. But for weekends and special occasions, nothing can touch a good single malt. Balvine Double Wood, and Tobermory (an un-peated Scotch) are very good mid-priced favorites of mine.

For a good Canadian, I highly recommend Forty Creek as the best bang for your buck.

49 posted on 05/04/2009 12:06:17 PM PDT by LTCJ (God Save the Constitution - Tar & Feathers, The New Look for Spring '09)
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To: tlb
"Nouveau riche posers buy for prestige, not for inherent quality. Art, whiskey, or autographed baseballs, not many actually can tell the difference. Nor do they really care as long as the people they want to impress are fooled."

A number of 20th century art forgers were motivated not by the money, but to make asses out of the critics and collectors.

50 posted on 05/04/2009 12:09:50 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: RikaStrom
I had best stay clear of the hard stuff.

Makes me stupid.

51 posted on 05/04/2009 12:10:50 PM PDT by humblegunner (Where my PIE at, fool?)
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To: Schnucki

I quit drinking bourbon when Maker’s Mark quit making their black label.


52 posted on 05/04/2009 12:15:51 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th
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To: Schnucki

So, ladies and gents, you can quit telling everyone you’re still 69. Science can prove otherwise.


53 posted on 05/04/2009 12:16:58 PM PDT by wolfcreek ("unnamed "right-wing extremist")
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To: LTCJ; NVDave

Thanks. I don’t drink, but I was curious.


54 posted on 05/04/2009 12:17:41 PM PDT by csmusaret (http://www.aipnews.com/)
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To: mtnjimmi

Jack Daniels is NOT, I repeat NOT a Bourbon.


55 posted on 05/04/2009 12:23:34 PM PDT by BlueNgold (... Feed the tree!)
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To: RikaStrom
Just can't trust anybody anymore............
56 posted on 05/04/2009 12:29:22 PM PDT by SeaDragon
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To: SunkenCiv

Thanks for the post. Now I can assure my wife my Scotch sipping is all for scientific research!


57 posted on 05/04/2009 12:29:24 PM PDT by colorado tanker ("Lastly, I'd like to apologize for America's disproportionate response to Pearl Harbor . . . ")
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To: humblegunner

Me too!

Good thing I found some decent wines. :-)


58 posted on 05/04/2009 12:38:13 PM PDT by RikaStrom (Bitter? Who me? Nah, I'm just clinging to my guns!)
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To: NVDave

This for all you barrel lickers out there;

“Woodford Reserve Personal Selection Program
The Woodford Reserve distillery takes a number of Bluegrass State traditions and wraps them into one. (They are, after all, the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby.) Through their Personal Selection Program, bourbon drinkers take a pilgrimage to the distillery, which is set amid bucolic rolling hills. Driving along the winding roads, you’ll spot far more horses than humans. The Woodford Reserve program is distinct because instead of selecting a single barrel bourbon to be bottled, you select from ten casks, each of which has a distinct flavor profile. Your final spirit will be a blend of two. It’s a tricky process, but don’t worry: master distiller Chris Morris will guide you—and your palate—the whole way. “You go to the auto dealership and say ‘I want that red car,’” Chris explained to us. “What we allow you to do is go to the auto factory and pick out your engine, your transmission, your upholstery. We pick barrels that represent the five bourbon flavors—sweet aromatics, wood, grain, fruit and spice, so we have this whole array of flavors and we sit down and taste and rate each barrel.”


59 posted on 05/04/2009 12:38:41 PM PDT by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, then writes again.)
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To: RikaStrom
Ahh... the water of life. ;-)

Uisge beatha, gu dearbh. (Whiskey, indeed)

60 posted on 05/04/2009 6:35:09 PM PDT by sionnsar ((Iran Azadi | 5yst3m 0wn3d - it's N0t Y0ur5 (SONY) | "Also sprach Telethustra" - NonValueAdded)
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