There are just some industries you can't disrupt, like the whiskey industry for example. After all, there's no shortcut to the aging process that turns fermented grain mash into strong, drinkable whiskey. It takes a long time, and this time is one of the main ingredients needed to pull off the process.
At least, that's what we thought. As it turns out, Whiskey Company Cleveland Whiskey has not only found a way to shorten the time needed for whiskey to mature but also entered a new market where it re-purposes used barrels into bourbon-mixed SmokerBricx. Following this, Tom Lix, the company CEO, affirmed that not only is Cleveland Whiskey a whiskey company, but it's also, for all intents and purposes, a technology company.
Lix was even quick to make fun of the company itself, saying, "We're pretty much known as heretics in the industry for the process we use. But we're able to make some pretty good whiskey."
And make good whiskey the company does, using its own cutting-edge technology to introduce new woods into the whiskey, all while substantially reducing the maturation from the traditional 6 years of barrel aging to only 24 hours.
The process
The company does this by cutting their woods into a variety of shapes and sizes before putting them in a stainless steel tank. The pressure in this tank is then alternated via oxygen treatment. Per the company, it's like putting a sponge in a bucket of water and squeezing it. Squeezing it makes it dry while letting go of it changes its structure from the inside.
According to Lix, "We can do the same thing with wood but we're using bourbon instead of water and using pressure variations to move the alcohol in and out of the wood."
And this has all paid off, as presently, the company has won more than 60 medals from competitions all over the world, including 22 gold awards.
Product extension
The company also found a product extension in the barrels they used for the whiskey aging process. Soaked in bourbon and shipped wet in airtight containers, these came to be known as SmokerBricx, which people use for smoking in barbecues and such.
"I mean, barbecue and whiskey pair so well together," said Lix, who is confident that the products will find more success for the company in the future.
