Suntory Holdings Ltd. is sending its finest whisky to space to age aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The company said it is an experiment to learn more about the ageing process within whisky and the effects of microgravity.

These finest whisky drums will be carried aboard Kounotori 5 transfer vehicle, which will be launched on 16th August. One of Japan's best known whisky distillery, Suntory, said they believe that the environment on the space station will result in producing a ‘mellower’ whisky because of the absolute stillness of the ISS and very little temperature fluctuations.

It has been said that a single batch of the whisky will spend nearly 12 months orbiting the earth, whereas an another batch would remain aboard ISS for a few years.

It is not for the first time when whisky has been sent to the ISS for the purpose of science. Earlier in 2011 samples of Ardbeg scotch whisky were sent to ISS as part of an experiment to see how the spirits' maturation process is affected by the near zero gravity of space.

Suntory in a press release stated that they aim to use these experiments to help find a scientific explanation for the mechanism that makes alcohol mellow.

So far there are no reports on whether the whisky will be made available to the general public. The whisky experiment will be conducted on the International Space Station's Japanese Experiment Module nicknamed ‘Kibo’. This is the same module where there happens to be a lonely robot called Kirobo.