New Zealand company Reactory has launched its spirit ageing reactor technology in the UK and globally, which it claims can age whiskey and rum in “days not decades”.
The proprietary technology works by combining new make or pre-aged spirit with oak under tightly controlled conditions to “recreate the key mechanisms responsible for traditional maturation”.
The process could produce aged spirits with a claimed reduction in cost of goods sold by at least 50% compared with traditional maturation methods, the company said, and create matured spirits in as little as 72 hours.
One reactor can handle production runs of up to 1,000,000 litres per year, within a 4x4x4m footprint.
Reactory was founded in 2022 by Dr Mark Eltom, who has spent the past four years developing the process.
“Traditional maturation has produced some of the world’s greatest spirits, and there’s enormous time-honoured traditions in this industry that we respect. But time, on its own, doesn’t guarantee quality and age doesn’t automatically equal maturity,” Eltom said.
“At a time when the spirits industry is facing slowing demand, rising production costs and increasing pressure on margins, the need to innovate has never been greater. Ultimately, the only thing that matters most is what’s in the glass,” he added.
Reactory was “already collaborating confidentially” with several leading spirits companies as it brought the technology to the global market, it said.
In a company-run blind tasting of 2,000 people – including master blenders, global distillers, mixologists and spirit industry experts – 87% consistently chose the Reactory spirits as their preferred sample.
Earlier this year, Reactory’s technology received recognition at the 2026 London Spirits Competition, where its rapidly matured Queen of Clubs Rum by Eltom Distillery was awarded a gold medal by the competition’s judging panel. The rum outperformed leading rums that were aged for years in a barrel, such as Havana Club Iconica Gran Reserva (aged 15 years), Eminente Gran Reserva no2 (aged 10 years) and Kakira Gold Rum (aged seven years).
Several companies have pursued accelerated ageing of spirits, which has been described as ‘whiskey’s holy grail’. Methods include use of smaller barrels to increase the wood-to-whisky ratio; heat cycling; pressure ageing and ultrasonic ageing. Typically these reduce the process to several months or a couple of years.
No comments yet