Mystic Farm & Distillery announces the launch of Mystic Galactic, the rarest spirit ever produced, a bourbon whiskey aged for one year in space.
Mystic plans to work with innovative companies like SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Rocketlab, Inversion Space, Firefly, and Bank of America, as well as the skilled coopers at the West Virginia Great Barrel Co. to finance, design, test and build vessels to send five barrels of 45% wheat bourbon whiskey to Low Earth Orbit for one year of additional aging.
The barrels for space aging will be selected from Mystic’s stock at least three years old. Mystic makes award-winning bourbon crafted from the North Carolina Piedmont’s superior grain, water and aging climate. Mystic has pioneered the field-to-glass movement in North Carolina and beyond, winning two consecutive gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2021 and 2022. The barrels will be re-coopered by the West Virginia Great Barrel Company, with special features and materials designed to survive the rigors of launch, orbit and re-entry.
“We’re redefining what it means to make a rare spirit,” said Jonathan Blitz, co-owner of Mystic. “Only about 1,300 people on the planet will ever have the opportunity to taste and own this whiskey history. It’s the height of luxury and exclusivity, not to mention the first commercial product manufactured in space.”
Most of the bottles will be presold for a $75,000 purchase deposit. Each purchaser will receive a nonfungible token (NFT) to prove authenticity and their right to ownership. The purchase deposits will be held in an FDIC-insured bank account until the bourbon returns to Earth for bottling. Mystic is planning to provide the bottles for pickup at the distillery. The remaining bottles will be sold at a market price after pre-orders are fulfilled. Purchasers will have exclusive access to an app that displays real-time mission data and admission to exclusive launch and reentry parties. The hand-crafted glass and machined aluminum bottles will be packed into a custom-fitted aluminum flight case with a piece of the actual oak barrel that flew in space.
Purchasers will also get a 50-ml sample of the bourbon, so owners won’t have to break the seal on their bottle of Mystic Galactic to taste the rarest spirit in the solar system.“
The space barrels will be retrieved and returned to Mystic after reentry, putting North Carolina on the map as an innovative producer of ultra-premium bourbon whiskey,” said Zack Hawkins, North Carolina State Representative (Durham). “This is an excellent example of the world-class products being made in our state and how we’re leading the way for the future.”
