NED Australian Whisky has announced the release of a special-edition Sounds of Bathurst range, aged using V8 supercars.

It sounds out there, but it’s actually based in science: when whisky ages in barrels, chemical reactions can occur and be sped up by using vibrations.

In 2018, heavy metal band Metallica released a whiskey called Blackened, which involved using custom playlists of Metallica’s music – a different one for each batch – during the distilling process. The drink was devised by the metal heavyweights in collaboration with Dave Pickerell, former master distiller at Maker’s Mark.

The notion of using unique sounds to age their whisky intrigued NED Whisky Master Distiller, Sebastian Raeburn and his team. They decided to develop the idea of escalating the chemical reaction by purposely vibrating barrels with the sound of Mount Panorama in Bathurst.

Earlier this year, Australian motor racing team, Kelly Grove Racing recorded the mighty roar of its incredibly powerful and loud V8 supercars whilst running laps of Mount Panorama. The team at NED Whisky used these recordings to blast the vibrating sound of the supercharged cars through the reserve grade NED Australian Whisky barrels for 50+ hours per week over the course of several months, delivering one of the most unique whiskies ever made.

The whisky has the aromas of toasted oak and sticky caramel, with hints of toffee tones and a long length finish of maple with structured body.

With only 1743 bottles produced, the very limited batch comes in two iconic designs inspired by Kelly Grove’s #7 and #26 race cars to be released for the last Bathurst race of the year.

The limited-edition Sounds of Bathurst 500ml whisky bottles are now available online at nedwhisky.com.au/ for RRP $100 until sold out.

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