In 2011, a Scottish distillery teamed up with a Texas space research company to see how well whiskey would age in the cold, unfeeling nothingness of space. They sent a vial of unmatured malt and charred oak pieces into orbit. There it sat, spinning along with the cosmos, for three long years. Now it is ready to return home and, more importantly, be imbibed.

It's actually an interesting experiment. On September 12, the vial will return home and be compared with a control vial, which was relegated to the boring confines of planet Earth. Which one became a better whiskey? Which one gets you to send drunk texts quicker, in the middle of the night, to ex-spouses? The world is about to find out.

Interestingly, no matter how good this stuff turns out to be, it cannot be called Scotch whiskey. Scotch must be aged in an oak barrel in Scotland for three years, and not in the vast and unforgiving cosmos. Oh well. In space, nobody can hear you moan during a hangover.